Stolen Time
by The Flying Red Panda
Summary: -"What about Numbuh 1? We can't tell him."- When 5 kids claiming to be from the future fall into Sector V's care, things start to get a little... weird. What secret are they hiding? Contains 3/4, 2/5, 1/362, and 83/84. DISCONTINUED.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Codename: KND. If I did there would be a lot more Sector W.**

* * *

"Numbuh 18?" a small girl with short black hair tiptoed softly through the hallway.

"Becca?" said the girl quietly. "C'mon Becca. I know you're here. Let's go to bed 'k?" the girl waited silently, but received no response. "C'mon Becca." the girl whispered. "I know you're upset but – "

"Upset?" Becca's voice broke through the night's stillness. "I'm a little more then 'upset' right now Numbuh 19."

Numbuh 19 turned towards the sound of Becca's voice.

"All my fault." whispered Becca "If I had been paying attention this wouldn't have happened."

"Becca," said Numbuh 19 softly, "please don't blame yourself."

"Who should I blame then Lily?" Becca turned angrily to face her friend. "Should I blame you? Numbuh 17 maybe? Huh? Everyone was doing their job today. Everyone but me. And look at what happened!"

Against her will, tears burst from Becca's eyes. Slowly, Lily put an arm around her friend.

"It's ok." whispered Lily. "We can make it right again."

Becca looked up at Lily and then slowly looked back at the ground.

"We don't know that." whispered Becca sadly. "We don't know that."

* * *

"Will you _please_ shut up?" Hoagie and Wally stopped their conversation to look at their very annoyed leader.

"What's wrong boss?" asked Hoagie

"You've been arguing about Yipper cards for an hour and a half!" grumbled Nigel. "It's not helping my headache."

"Awww, you have a headache?" asked Kuki sympathetically. "Here! I brought my _Make-The-Headache-Go-Away _Rainbow Monkey with me!" Happily Kuki reached under her seat and handed the stuffed animal to Numbuh 1.

"Squeeze his tummy Numbuh 1!" said Kuki happily "It'll make you feel better!"

Groaning softly, Nigel half-heartedly squeezed the red rainbow monkey.

"_Rainbow Monkey, Rainbow Monkey, Oh so very round and super chunky!" _

"How the crud is that supposed to make Numbuh 1 feel better?" grumbled Numbuh 4.

"It's the rainbow monkey theme song." said Kuki happily. "It can make anybody feel better Numbuh 4!"

"Can not!"

"Can too!"

"Can not!"

"Can too!"

"Can not!"

"Can too!"

"SHUT UP!" Nigel groaned and rubbed his head. "How much longer until we reach Moonbase Numbuh 2?"

"We're already here."

* * *

"Welcome Sector V."

"Thank you Numbuh 362 sir." said Nigel respectfully.

"At ease guys." said Rachael. "Go ahead and sit down."

Hoagie, Kuki, Wally, and Abby sat down on a wide couch and Nigel sat on a chair nearby.

"I know you're all probably curious as to why you're here." said Rachael. "But you're going to have to wait just a little while. We need to wait until Sector W arrives."

"Sector W?" asked Nigel "Why Sector W?"

Before Rachel could respond, Numbuh 5 interrupted her.

"Uh, Numbuh 362? I don't mean to interrupt," said Abby "but Numbuh 5 thinks you should turn around."

Everyone looked in the direction Numbuh 5 was pointing. A sheet of white slightly larger then the average ten year old had appeared on the ceiling. Cautiously, Rachael and Nigel slowly advanced forward until they were almost directly underneath the sheet. Slowly, the others came over too. At first nothing seemed to be happening. Suddenly, the white disappeared leaving a clear pane, almost like a mirror on the ceiling. However, instead of seeing their reflections, the operatives saw a big blurry blob.

"Is it working?" the operatives jumped with surprise as a boy's voice floated from the pane.

"How should I know? I didn't build it!"

"DUCK!" An explosion sounded from the mirror-like substance.

"C'mon! Work you cruddy piece of junk!"

"AHHHHHHH!" Everyone jumped backwards as a brown-haired girl fell from the mirror.

"What the h-OUCH!" As the girl struggled to get out from under the boy that had fallen on top of her, another girl fell from the ceiling.

"Oof!" groaned the second girl. "That hurt a lot more then I thought it would."

"Where's everyone else?" asked the boy. "And where's my hat?"

"Heeeeeeeeeeelp!" a blonde pigtailed girl fell to the ground, followed closely by a blonde-haired boy.

"Are you guys okay?" asked Rachael hesitantly.

The brunette girl groaned "Define 'okay'." Slowly the group of kids stood up and brushed themselves off.

"Here's your hat." said the brunette girl as she handed the blue hat over to the black-haired boy.

"Where are we?" asked the black-haired girl.

"Kids Next Door Moonbase." said Rachael. "I'm the Soopreme Leader Numbuh 362."

"Numbuh 362?" said the black-haired boy. "But she was decommissioned almost fifteen years ago!"

"It worked?" whispered the brunette girl "It worked?"

"See?" said the black-haired girl happily "I knew you could do it!"

"Uh, excuse Numbuh 5 for askin', but what the heck is going on?"

"Before we explain could you tell us what year it is?" asked the blonde-pigtailed girl.

"It's 2009." said Hoagie. "Why?"

The brunette girl let out a happy squeal "It worked! It really worked!"

"What worked?" asked a very confused Nigel. "And who are you?"

"I'm confused." said Kuki

"Hold up." said Rachael. "Introductions first."

The black-haired boy stepped forward. "I'm Numbuh 17. I'm the leader of Sector V."

"No, I'm the leader of Sector V!" said Nigel.

"Not where we come from." said Numbuh 17. "Wait… does that mean… you're Numbuh 1?"

"Of _course _I'm Numbuh 1!" said Nigel "And what do you mean 'where you come from?'"

"Becca it's Numbuh 1!" said Numbuh 17 excitedly. Becca took a step forward.

"Really?"

"Yes really." said a newly annoyed Nigel.

"Does that mean you guys are Numbuh's 2-5?" asked the black-haired girl excitedly.

"I'm Numbuh 5. That's Numbuh 4, Numbuh 3, and Numbuh 2." Abby pointed to each member of Sector V as she said their codenames.

"That is so cool!" said the blonde-pigtailed girl.

"_Anyway_." said Nigel. "Now that you know who we are, it's only fair that you tell us who you are."

The blonde-boy stepped forward. "I'm Numbuh 15. I'm the Stealth Tactics Officer for Sector V."

"And I'm his twin sister Numbuh 16." said the blonde-pigtailed girl. "I'm the Medical Officer of Sector V."

"Numbuh 17." said Numbuh 17. "Leader and Defense Coordinator."

"I'm Numbuh 18." said the brunette girl. "I'm 2nd in command and the 2x4 technology specialist."

"And I'm Numbuh 19." said the black-haired girl chirpily. "I'm the Kid-Teen Relations Officer."

"What the crud is the Kid-Teen Relations Officer?" asked Wally "That job doesn't exist."

"Does too!"

"Does not!"

"Does too!"

"Does not!"

"Does too!"

"SHUT UP!" Everyone turned to face Rachael. "Okay." she continued, "It's obvious that we need to hear the story. This room is a little small for all of us. Sector V, I want you to take these kids to your tree house. I'll notify Sector W and tell them to meet us there."

"Tell us what sis?" Everyone turned to see Sector W walk into the room.

"What'd we miss?"

* * *

"What are we supposed to tell them?" Numbuh 19 looked at her fellow operatives. They were sitting in a circle in the farthest corner of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. Sector V glanced curiously at them every once and a while, but otherwise they were left alone.

"I don't think we can tell them anything." said Numbuh 17 unhappily.

"Why not?" groaned Numbuh 16. "A little help from them would be nice."

"No!" said Numbuh 18. "You know the rules. We can't do anything that might change the future."

"We could still tell them our story." said Numbuh 15 "We just won't mention the fact that they're related to us."

"But what about Numbuh 1?" asked Numbuh 19 hesitantly. "We can't tell _him_."

Numbuh 17 sighed. "We have to tell them something guys."

"I think we can tell them our story." said Numbuh 18. "We'll just leave out the stuff they can't know."

"Sounds good." said Numbuh 17 "Oh, and when they ask us for our real names – cause they will eventually – no last names okay guys?"

Everyone nodded.

"Everyone buckle up." announced Nigel. "We're here."

* * *

"Yeah right." Numbuh 85 aka Paddy Fulbright looked skeptically at Rachael. "You seriously believe these guys are from the future?"

"I know it seems weird Numbuh 85." said Rachael. "But they did have a pretty convincing entrance."

"It could've been a trick." suggested Numbuh 363

"It won't hurt to hear what they have to say." said Numbuh 362 as she turned to the future operatives. "Go ahead guys. Lets hear your story."

Numbuh 17 cleared his throat and stood up.

"Our story actually begins before we were born…"

**

* * *

**

**What year are these guys from? **

**What can't they tell Numbuh 1?  
**

**And the biggest question… who's related to who? If you can guess which kids go to which parents you get a virtual cookie! (HINT: The couples are 3/4, 1/362, 2/5, and 83/84)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! You guys are amazing! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Codename: KND **

_

* * *

Nuhmbuh 17 cleared his throat and stood up. "Our story actually begins before we were born…" _

"A couple of years before we were born, Father decided it was time to retire. However, he first needed to find somebody to take his place." Numbuh 17 hesitated slightly before continuing. "Father traveled the world trying to find someone he thought was worthy enough to be his successor. It took him two years, but eventually he remembered an old KND operative. This particular operative had been decommissioned many years earlier, and had recently married his childhood sweetheart."

"Who was this operative?" asked Numbuh 362

Numbuh 17 shrugged. "Nobody knows. Father managed to erase his name from the KND files."

Rachael nodded her head and motioned the boy to go on.

"Anyway," said Numbuh 17 "For reasons unknown to us, Father decided that this operative would be his successor. Father also knew that it would be difficult to convince him to become his successor. Something had gone wrong during the operative's decommissioning, and –while he still didn't remember the Kids Next Door- he did still have his love of children, and the need to protect them from evil adults. So, for three months Father waited and watched, trying to discover the best way to convince him to take over." Numbuh 17 coughed. "Great. Now I'm losing my voice." he grumbled. "Numbuh 15, can you take over?"

"Sure boss." said Numbuh 15 as he vainly attempted to swat a bug flying around him. "Father discovered that the man had a terrible job with a very low paycheck. He often heard the man telling his wife that 'she deserved better' and 'as soon as he could he'd find a better job'. Father watched as the man answered a ton of job ads, but he never got a new job. One day, Father knocked on the man's door, disguised as a businessman. Father told the guy that a friend of his had given him his resume and that he wanted to hire him. At first the guy didn't believe him, but after showing him a ton of fake papers and stuff, the guy was convinced. At first Father just sent him on a bunch of stupid errands that had nothing whatsoever to do with training him. The guy was sorta confused as to why he was getting paid so much for such an easy job, but whenever he saw the house he was able to buy for his now pregnant wife, he sorta just forgot about it. Eventually," Numbuh 15 hesitated slightly, unsure of what he was and wasn't allowed to tell.

"Eventually," said Numbuh 17 who had obviously gotten his voice back "Father managed to corrupt him. We don't know how, but Father almost succeeded with turning him totally evil."

"Almost?" asked Sonya "What do you mean by 'almost'?"

"Father thought he had succeeded in creating another version of himself." said Numbuh 17. "He did manage to make him pretty mean, but he never managed to fully corrupt him."

"How is that possible?" asked Numbuh 362. "There've been plenty of adults who love kids that've been easily corrupted. What made this guy different?"

"Well he did still have some memories." said Numbuh 17 "He actually remembered a little bit of his childhood. Remember I said he married his childhood sweetheart? We're pretty sure he met her through the KND. We don't know for sure, but we _think _the fact that a piece of his childhood was always with him helped halt the transformation."

"So what?" asked Wally "So you've got an evil cruddy adult living down the street. What's the big deal?"

"The 'deal'" said Numbuh 17 "is that he had become Father's successor. Because he had his good side and his bad side constantly at war with each other, he… well… he sorta went insane."

"We all got our good side and our bad side." said Abby "Numbuh 5 doesn't think that's enough to make someone go insane."

"What you gotta understand," began Numbuh 17 "is that thanks to his faulty decommissioning, this guy was more sympathetic towards children then any other adult in the world. Father had trained him to hate children with more hate then most adults have. You've got the battle of good vs. evil on a much, much larger scale. That's enough to make anybody go insane."

"So what happened after this guy went insane?" asked Numbuh 363

"He turned into a villain with serious mood swings." said Numbuh 17 "One minute he'd be a kid's best friend and hand out free ice cream, and the next he'd be kidnapping kids and forcing them to eat broccoli."

All the kids in the room shuddered.

"And as time went on," continued Numbuh 17 "It just got worse and worse. The good side of him grew smaller and smaller, and the bad side of him grew bigger and bigger, until he became more evil then all the villains in the world combined. The future we come from is horrible. Have you guys ever heard of the Negaverse?"

All the operatives nodded.

"Numbuh 4's opposite had a goatee." giggled Kuki "It was really funny looking."

"Imagine the Negaverse times eleventy- buhmillion." said Numbuh 17 "That's how terrible it is back home."

"We do the best we can to fight back." said Numbuh 16 sadly. "But it's really hard. The Numbuhless One is really strong."

"The Numbuhless One?" asked Rachael "Why do you call him the Numbuhless One?"

Numbuh 16 shrugged. "Dunno." she said "We just started calling him that, cause we didn't know what his Numbuh was when he was in the KND, and the name stuck. He even calls himself that now."

"What happened to his wife?" asked Sonya "Did she turn evil too?"

"We…" mumbled Numbuh 18 "We don't like to talk about that."

Rachael almost pushed the subject, but decided against it when she saw the pain in the future operatives eyes.

"Okay." said Rachael "You obviously got here by a time machine –"

"Portal." said Numbuh 18 "Time portal."

"Portal then." said Rachael. "How did you build it? Who built it? The scientists in the KND Lab told me that they believe that time travel is impossible."

"I built it." said Numbuh 18 as she tugged nervously on her pink sweater. "It was really hard."

"How?" asked Hoagie eagerly. "Boy, I'd love to try to make one!"

"Sorry." said Numbuh 18 "But that information is classified. Our Soopreme Commander Numbuh 788 told me I couldn't make one unless I swore never to tell _anyone _how to make it."

"I don't even know." said Numbuh 19. "And Becca tells me everything. We're best friends!"

"Becca?" asked Wally "Who the crud is Becca?"

"That's my real name." said Numbuh 18

"What's your last name?" asked Nigel curiously. Becca chose to ignore him.

"Why don't you guys tell them your real names too?" suggested Becca to her teammates. Becca hoped that it would take Nigel's mind off the subject of her last name.

"I'm Ben." said Numbuh 17.

"I'm Lily." said Numbuh 19 happily.

"Ross." said Numbuh 15 "and this shorty here is Chelsea." Numbuh 16 rolled her eyes.

"I'm not _that _short Numbuh 15." said Chelsea "It's not _my_ fault you're freakishly tall!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"SHUT UP!" Ben and Nigel yelled at the same time.

"Cool it people." said Lee

"Everyone listen up." said Rachael. "We need to figure out where these kids are going to stay, and then I need to tell you about the mission I was going to assign you. I assume," Rachael turned to face the future Sector V "that as KND operatives you want to help?"

Future Sector V looked at each other.

"Why not." shrugged Ben "We might as well."

"Good." said Rachael. "We need all the help we can get. Sector V or W is there any place you can fit these operatives?"

"Usually we could put them in the main room." said Harvey "But that battle with Mega Mom destroyed it."

"I guess we could fit them into our main room." said Nigel "We'll need a couple of mattresses though."

"We recently refreshed our mattress supply at Moonbase." said Rachael. "I'll call Numbuh 86 and have her bring down some mattresses."

Rachael walked to the front of the room and turned so she could face everyone at once.

"Now that that's taken care of," said Rachael "I need to tell you about the mission. For this particular mission Sectors V and W will be working together as one team."

"Rachael." whined Harvey "You never told me I'd have to work with _Nigel Uno._"

Sonya, Lee, and Paddy winced at the contempt in Numbuh 363's voice when he said Numbuh 1's name.

"I'm not looking forward to it any more then you are." mumbled Nigel.

Rachael put a hand on her forehead. "Can you guys _please _get along for _one _mission?"

Harvey looked at Nigel. Nigel looked at Harvey.

"I guess." said Nigel as he turned to look at Rachael.

"Fat chance." sneered Harvey.

"Fine." said Rachael "I'll assign another sector to work with Sector V. You can go back to your tree house Numbuh 363."

"No way!" said Harvey "I'm not missing out on this mission because of Nigel Uno!"

"Then you have to at least _attempt _to get along with him okay?" Rachael looked at Harvey until he nodded unhappily.

"Good." said Rachael. "Earlier this week Sector E managed to intercept a transmission from Father to the Delightful Children. Unfortunately, it was incomplete, due to the large security measures used during the call. I have it with me now, and I would like you to listen to it." Rachael pulled a recorder from her pocket and pressed play.

"… delightful … Father...finish …changes … destru… achine…ather … …ids next do… destroyed… est invention … complete … sent …spy… …Sector V… know nothing."

"What the crud does all that stuff mean?" asked Numbuh 4

Rachael shrugged. "We don't know."

"It doesn't sound that great." said Harvey

"Why do we need both Sectors V and W for this mission?" asked Nigel "Father is a formidable opponent, but we have taken him down several times without assistance."

Rachael sighed. "At first I was going to send just you guys." she admitted. "But just yesterday we received a message from Sector Q that was very worrying." Rachel sighed again. "I had sent Sector Q on a reconnaissance mission to discover as much as we could about what Father was planning before I sent in Sector V. They were supposed to report back two days ago."

"What happened to them?" asked Ben.

Rachael shrugged again. "We don't know for sure." she said "But we have a theory."

Rachael took out another recorder from her pocket. "This is a copy of the message sent to us from Sector Q."

She hit the play button. Immediately a male's voice came from the object, talking very quickly.

"Kids Next Door Moonbase, this is Numbuh 420 of Sector Q. During our Reconnaissance mission we had barely stepped onto the property when Father managed to capture us before we could call for help. Father knew so much about our planned mission that we believe he has a spy planted in the KND. Father has built a huge factory. This factory is well protected, there's no way a single team could penetrate it. Father is very concerned with security because he has combined his aging ray with the delightfulization process, to create a giant machine that will turn children into delightfulized adults. He plans to use this machine on the entire world. Currently it is incomplete, but it'll be working soon. And most importantly we've discovered he has a –"

"It stops there." said Rachael.

Lily gasped. "Guys!" she said frantically to her team. "Oh no. Oh no no no."

"What?" asked Ross "What's wrong?"

"Didn't you hear?" asked Lily "Weren't you listening?"

Becca gasped. "Oh no. It's starting isn't it? It's starting."

Ben shifted closer to Chelsea. Ross put a hand over his mouth. Chelsea hid her head in her hands.

The other KND operatives looked at them curiously.

"You know about this?" asked Nigel

Future Sector V completely ignored him.

"We're gonna…" Ben's voice cracked. "go talk about this. Go ahead and talk about the mission. Sector V can fill us in."

And with that, future Sector V ran from the room.

**

* * *

Oooooo… cliffhanger….**

**Check out a picture I made of future Sector V here: **h t t p : / / t h e f l y i n g r e d p a n d a . d e v i a n t a r t . c o m / a r t / T h e - F u t u r e - S e c t o r - V - 1 2 8 6 5 9 1 7 5

**There shouldn't be any spaces... fanfiction won't let me type it in the right way. **


	3. Chapter 3

**For those of you who are slightly confused about who's who, I've made this list you can look at:**

**Numbuh 15- Ross – Stealth Tactics Officer**

**Numbuh 16- Chelsea – Medical Officer**

**Numbuh 17- Ben – Leader/Defense Coordinator **

**Numbuh 18- Becca – 2****nd**** in Command/2x4 Technology Specialist **

**Numbuh 19- Lily – Kid-Teen Relations Officer **

**Once again, many many thanks to those who reviewed. You guys rock!**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own KND. **

* * *

"We _can't _go on this mission." said Lily "Who knows what'll happen if we do?"

"But what if we fixed it?" asked Becca desperately. "If we reached them before they disappeared… if we managed to get –"

"No!" said Chelsea "What if one of our parents dies because of that? We won't exist anymore if that happens!"

"_Please." _begged Becca "We could change it! We could…"

"No." Ben had been sitting quietly, watching his team argue until now. "Becca, I know how much it would mean to you," he said placing a hand on her shoulder "but we can't change the future. We can't do it."

Becca slowly looked down at the floor.

"All we can do," said Ben "is keep a close eye on the Numbuhless One, and see if we can find a weakness we can use when we get back home."

"So are we going on this mission or not?" asked Chelsea.

Four pairs of eyes turned to look at Ben. Their leader sighed and took his cap off his head.

"We already said we'd go." said Ben. "And we will go… as long as everyone promises not to interfere. Got it?" Ben looked at Becca. Slowly she nodded. Ben waited until the rest of his team nodded as well.

"Alright." said Ben. "Let's do this."

* * *

"Why," grumbled Nigel "do they keep ignoring me?"

"Maybe they have a problem with bald brits who think they're soooo cool." sneered Harvey.

"Harvey." said Rachael "I thought I told you, you have to get along with Numbuh 1."

Harvey opened his mouth to speak, but when he saw the look on his sister's face he snapped it shut.

"Anyone else have something they'd like to say?" Rachael looked at all the operatives. No one made a sound. "Good." said Rachael "Now, there's really two parts to this mission. I want to carry out the first part tomorrow. The first objective of this mission is to gain more information about what we're up against. No fighting or destroying anything unless absolutely necessary."

"Awww." said Wally disappointedly. Kuki patted him on the back consolingly.

"I want to put Numbuh 5 in charge of this mission," said Rachael with a nod to Abby, "because she's the Kids Next Door's best spy. I think," she continued, "I'll make Numbuh… 15 was it? second in command, because he's the Stealth Officer for his team… right?"

"I think… or is it Numbuh 18?" asked Paddy

"No, it's Numbuh 16…maybe." said Hoagie "Or is it Numbuh 17?"

"Whot about Numbuh 19?" asked Wally

"Whatever." said Rachael frustratedly "Point is, whoever their Stealth Officer is, he or she is second in command. Understood?"

The operatives nodded.

"Good." said Rachael with another nod. "Now –" She was interrupted by the arrival of the future Sector V.

"Hi." said Ben "We're done uh… discussing this mission."

Rachael almost asked for details, but instinct told her that she probably wouldn't get any.

"Okay." said Rachael. "By the way… who's your Stealth Officer again?"

"Numbuh 15." said Ben as he gestured towards Ross.

"Okay… um?" hesitated Rachael

"Ross." supplied Numbuh 15

"Ross." repeated Rachael. "Okay. I've decided that Numbuh 5 will be leading this mission, and you can be second in command."

Ross nodded, a small smile breaking out on his face. "Thank you sir."

"Now," said Rachael "our global satellites have managed to give us a general idea of the layout of Father's factory." Rachael pulled a set of blueprints from her sweater pocket and laid them on a nearby table. Everyone gathered around.

"I've divided this map into four sections." said Rachael. "Therefore, I'm going to divide all of you into four groups. Numbuhs 1, 363, 17, and myself will be the four group leaders. Numbuh 5 and Numbuh 15 will be located in the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. coordinating us."

Rachael looked at the operatives gathered around her, making sure none of them were confused.

"Originally, I was going to have us go in groups of two, but because we suddenly have more operatives, I need to remake the groups. One second please."

The operatives fell back, and reseated themselves. Rachael took out a pencil and a piece of paper. Mumbling quietly to herself, she scratched her pencil across the paper. She stared at it for a moment, and then, biting her tongue, she erased what she had written. After a few minutes of this, Rachael looked up from the paper she was writing on.

"Okay." announced Rachael "I've figured out the teams. Team One will be Nigel, Chelsea, Kuki, and Wally."

Nigel nodded approvingly at his teammates. Wally just looked confused.

"Who the crud is Chelsea?"

Chelsea rolled her eyes. "Over here genius."

"Wow Wally." joked Hoagie. "For once you won't be the shortest kid on the team."

Chelsea's eyes burned "Did you just call me _short?_"

"Uh… um… no?" mumbled Hoagie, clearly not planning on angering Chelsea further. Ross rolled his eyes.

"Calm down Chelsea." said Ross as he patted her back. Chelsea sent her brother a withering look, but her eyes stopped spouting flames.

"Moving on." said Rachael. "Team Two will be myself, Becca, Sonya, and Lee. Team Three will be Ben, Hoagie, and Lily. And finally Team Four will be Harvey, Paddy, and Tommy."

The operatives glanced at their teammates. No one seemed to have a problem with the arrangement.

"Like I said earlier," continued Rachael "this first part is only a spy mission. Our goal is to get as much information as possible about the defenses Father has around the factory, and possibly an idea about what he has inside the factory."

"As you can see," said Rachel, "I've given each section a number. Team One will take section 1, Team Two will take section 2, and so forth."

"Will we be using weapons?" asked Ben "Cause my team currently doesn't have any."

"You'll take weapons with you," said Rachael "but I don't want you using them unless it's absolutely necessary. Numbuh 2?" asked Rachael as she turned to face the chubby pilot. "Can you get these guys some weapons after this meeting?"

"Course." said Hoagie. "I've got a ton of spare weapons in my workshop."

"Great." said Rachael. "Can you also give them each a 2x4 communicator watch?"

"Yep." said Hoagie.

"Good. Any more questions?" Rachael's inquiry was met with silence.

"Okay then." said Rachael. "I'm going to contact Fanny and tell her to bring a couple mattresses. Sector W, you can go back to your tree house. I want everyone in this room at oh nine hundred hours. Got it?"

"Yes sir." said Harvey and Nigel at the same time. This caused a heated glaring match between the two until Abby hit them both on the head with her cap.

"Kids Next Door, dismissed."

"Kids Next Door rules!"

Slowly the operatives trickled out of the room.

"C'mon." said Hoagie "I'll show you where my workshop is."

To his and many others surprise, Becca was the one who led the way to the workshop.

"What?" said Becca to Hoagie's surprised stare. "This is _my _workshop 20 years from now."

"Oh yeah…" said Hoagie "Right. Uh… so what's your weapon of choice?"

"Do you have a S.P.L.A.N.K.E.R?" asked Lily. "It's my favorite."

"Course." said Hoagie as he rummaged through a cabinet. He pulled one out and tossed it to her.

"Gumball shooter please." requested Ben.

"Coming right up." said Hoagie as he tossed it to Ben. "Who's next?"

"Do you have a S.L.U.G.G.U.H?" asked Chelsea.

"Maybe…" said Hoagie as he leaned into the cabinet. "Yep! Got one!"

"You probably don't have a L.A.Z.E.R do you?" asked Becca

"What's that?" asked Hoagie

"That's what I thought." sighed Becca "Shoot… that's always a nice weapon to have around. Do you have any M.A.R.B.L.E.S?"

"I did yesterday." said Hoagie "But I can't remember where I put them…"

Pushing himself out from the cabinet, Hoagie walked over to a very cluttered desk. Hoagie started pushing papers around.

"I found it!" shouted Hoagie "Gosh, I've been looking for this chili dog since yesterday." He shoved it into his mouth and chewed loudly.

Ben grimaced. "You're so gross da- I… I mean Hoagie." Ben turned red.

"What?" asked Hoagie, a look of confusion etched on his face.

"N-nothing." said Ben quickly. "Any luck finding those M.A.R.B.L.E.S?"

"Uh…" Hoagie turned back to his desk. "Found them!" He tossed the bag to Becca.

"What about you?" asked Hoagie to Ross "What weapon do you want?"

"I've already got a weapon." said Ross. He pulled a green yoyo from his pocket. "This used to be my dad's."

"That's good." said Hoagie absentmindedly. "Where _did_ I put my extra 2x4 communicators?" Mumbling to himself, Hoagie circled his workshop.

"Numbuh 15," whispered Chelsea "I don't think you can use that yoyo."

"Why not?" whispered Ross, a confused look on his face. "You know I work better with yoyos, especially this one."

"I know." shrugged Chelsea "But dad is on this mission with the exact same yoyo. Don't you think _someone _will notice how identical they are?"

"They're _not _identical. You know that." Ross turned his yoyo so the other side was up. "See?" Ross pointed to an engraving on the side. "Dad didn't put that there until he and mom were teens." Chelsea looked at the familiar engraving. _L + S._

"Alright." said Chelsea "But be careful okay?"

Ross nodded.

"Found them!" Hoagie walked over to the Future Sector V with a cardboard box in hand. "They come in five different colors."

Hoagie opened the box. "I've got red, blue, white, green, and black."

"Can I have a red one?" asked Lily

"White for me please." said Becca

"Blue." said Ben

"Green!" said Chelsea chirpily.

"I guess I'll take the black one." shrugged Ross.

"Okay." said Hoagie after giving them each a communicator. "I assume you guys don't need me to show you the way to the main room?"

* * *

"Lily?" Becca's voice softly broke the silence of the night. Lily mumbled a bit in her sleep, before turning her head away from Becca.

"Lily?" Becca quietly shook her friend. "Please wake up. I really need to talk to someone."

"Becca?" Ross sat up sleepily. "Are you okay?"

"I just…" whispered Becca "I need to talk to someone."

Ross grinned slightly "I'm someone right?"

Becca nodded.

"So what's the problem?" asked Ross as he suppressed a yawn.

Becca let out a sigh. "I don't know if I can do this."

"Why's that?" asked Ross

"It's so hard." said Becca sadly "Knowing that I could change things, that I could get my old life back, but I _can't_." Ross crawled over to Becca and put and arm around her shoulder.

"It's not your fault Becca."

"How is it not my fault?" asked Becca angrily, emotions she had tried to suppress spilling out. "How in the _world _can you _possibly _think it's not my fault?"

Angry tears fell from Becca's eyes. "Do you know what I have to face when we go home? Huh?" cried Becca "I made a huge mistake, and I have to fix it, and I don't know _how._"

Becca burst into silent sobs and buried her head in Ross's shoulder.

"I can't do this anymore." whispered Becca. "I don't _want _to do this anymore."

Ross just held her while she cried.

**

* * *

A/N: Yay! Another chapter complete! Next up: An Unwelcome Surprise. **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Just a side note, this story takes place between Operation ZERO and Operation INTERVIEWS. And because of my lack of updating, I've made this chapter a bit longer. Enjoy!**

* * *

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, fluffy clouds lazily moved through the air, and birds chased each other happily. Sector W, both Sector Vs, and Numbuh 362 were gathered in Sector V's hangar, waiting for Tommy and Hoagie to stop arguing about who got to pilot the ship.

"You _always _get to pilot Hoagie!" whined Tommy "I'm just as good as you!"

"No way!" cried Hoagie "If you think I'm letting you anywhere _near _the controls tomy newly improved S.C.A.M.P.E.R. you're crazy!"

Rachael was rubbing her temples "_Please _just decide which of you is going to drive." she groaned.

"Why don't you do rock paper scissors for it?" Everyone turned to look at the blonde-pigtailed girl who had made the suggestion.

"What?" said Chelsea blushing slightly "That's what my parents make us do to solve problems."

Hoagie and Tommy stared at each other.

"Fine." they said together. Closing their eyes, Tommy and Hoagie chanted, "Rock… Paper… Scissors!"

All the operatives looked at Tommy and Hoagie's hands. Tommy had rock. Hoagie had paper.

"Yes!" cheered Hoagie happily. Tommy slumped a little. "Aw man."

"Can we _please _leave now?" asked Nigel as he opened the door to the S.C.A.M.P.E.R.

* * *

After an uneventful flight, Hoagie gently set down the ship a mile or so from the factory. The operatives piled out.

"Everyone ready?" asked Rachael as she took out her weapon. The other operatives brought out their weapons and nodded their assent.

"Alright then." said Rachael "Kids Next Door move out!"

**

* * *

TEAM 1 – Nigel, Chelsea, Kuki, Wally**

"Why the crud did we have to park so far away from the factory?" grumbled Wally as they marched toward their destination.

"To keep Father from detecting us." said Nigel as he walked at the head of the pack.

"Why don't you tell us about yourself Chelsea?" said Kuki chirpily. Chelsea stumbled.

"W-what?" asked Chelsea.

"Well," said Kuki happily "we don't know you well right? And if we're all going to work together, we should know about each other right?"

"Umm…" said Chelsea "Okay. What'd you want to know?"

"Do you like Rainbow Monkeys?" asked Kuki happily.

"Yeah." said Chelsea, relieved that the question wasn't more personal.

"Me too!" squealed Kuki. "Do you have a _Share and Care Rainbow Monkey? _Or a _Fun Time Friend Rainbow Monkey? _Or --"

"What're your parents like?" interrupted Wally before Kuki could go any further.

Chelsea shifted her weapon nervously. "Oh, you know." she said evasively. "They're…uh… parents."

Nigel rolled his eyes. "Yes, we know _that_." he said "But are they bad or good or what?"

Chelsea paused a second, then shrugged. Neither one of her parents was in her group, telling them a _little _about her family couldn't hurt.

"They're pretty nice." shrugged Chelsea "They're nice enough not to make me eat broccoli, but I still have to go to school and do homework and stuff."

"Were they part of the KND when they were kids?" asked Nigel.

Chelsea hesitated once again. "Uh… yeah… maybe."

"Cool!" said Wally "What were their numbuhs? Maybe we know them!"

'_No duh you know them.'_ thought Chelsea. She coughed.

"Uh… uh… Num-Numbuh 86?" said Chelsea as she prayed that no one in the KND currently had that Numbuh.

"WHAT?" Chelsea flinched at Wally's outcry. _Crud. _

"Numbuh 86 is your _mom?" _asked Nigel "Then who's your dad? He has to have blonde hair because you and your brother both have blonde hair… Oh crud, _please _tell me your dad isn't Numbuh 4!"

"WHAT?!?" shouted Wally again "Why the _crud _would ya think _that?_"

"Well she did say you were cute." said Kuki grumpily.

"No! No! No! No! _No._" said Chelsea desperately. "Numbuh 4 is _not _my dad."

The other three operatives let out identical sighs of relief.

"Is Numbuh 86 really your mom?" asked Kuki

"I don't know for sure…" said Chelsea "What's her name?"

"Fanny Fulbright." said Nigel.

"Nope." said Chelsea. "It's not her then."

"Oh." said Nigel "Then who…?"

"Whoops." said Chelsea quickly. "No more questions. I think we're here."  
**

* * *

TEAM 2 – Rachael, Becca, Sonya, and Lee**

Team 2 walked quickly across the field, the silence heavy. Becca was staring at the ground as she walked, and Sonya was skipping cheerfully next to Lee, who was casually playing with his yoyo. Rachael walked a little ahead of the group.

"So…" said Rachael in a to Becca in an attempt to break the stillness. "Um… What's the future like?"

Becca glanced up at Rachael before quickly looking back down at the ground, debating mentally with herself.

"What the heck." muttered Becca. She looked up at Rachael and smiled.

"It's like the KND today." said Becca "Only our weapons are more high-tech, and our enemies are a lot tougher."

" Like the Numbuhless One." said Rachael understandingly.

"He's the leader." said Becca. "But he's got help."

"Help?" asked Sonya as she skipped forward to walk next to Becca and Rachael. Lee soon joined her.

"Yeah." said Becca. "There's Yllaw, I think you've heard of him? He's the Ex-Soopreme Leader of the DNK. There's also Big Brother and Big Sister – they make teenagers seem like angels; they love giving atomic wedgies and noogies and stuff like that. Then there's the Toy Maker- he specializes in making toys that brainwash kids, and of course the Delightful Adults From Down The Lane."

"Delightful… adults?" asked Rachael.

"Previously the Delightful Children." said Becca. "Anyway, those villains are the worst of the worst, and they make up the Numbuhless One's council. Yllaw was second in command last we heard, but those things can change. They're absolutely _horrible_, we've lost sixty operatives to them in the last year alone."

Sonya summed up the other operatives feeling in one word.

"Scaaaary."

**

* * *

TEAM 3 –Ben, Hoagie, and Lily**

Hoagie, Ben, and Lily were walking side by side, chatting happily about Yipper cards.

"You seriously have Yipper Card number 77?" asked Hoagie excitedly to Lily "That's like, one of the rarest cards ever!"

"It used to be my dad's." grinned Lily "He gave all his cards to me when I was six."

"She's also got Number 73." said Ben "Lily is the best Yipper card player in our KND."

"That's so –" Hoagie's words died when he noticed four teenager boys standing in front of them. They were huge. They were scary. And they looked like they meant business.

"Look what we got here." said the tallest boy. "Seems like you little kiddies got lost. After all, I'm sure you didn't come onto our territory _on purpose_ did you?"

"Your territory?" asked Ben

"That's right punk." said the smallest and meanest looking boy. "Now we're gonna give you a choice. Turn around and head back the way you came, or we'll _make _you go back."

"Dude. Relax will ya?" Lily had walked forward, shoving Ben and Hoagie behind her.

"You wanna get hit?" asked the smallest boy "I usually don't hit girls, but I bet I can make an exception for you."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Yeah right. I doubt you could hit something to save your life."

"You wanna say that to my face?" said the small teenager angrily.

"I just did." said Lily smugly.

The teenager growled and lunged for Lily, but was held back by the tallest teen who was evidently the leader.

"You know, I like you kid." said the leader. "You've got spunk. So I'll give you one last chance. Leave. Now." Lily and the leader engaged in a battle of stares, but after a short period Lily broke the eye contact and smiled lightly.

"Can we talk privately?" asked Lily, a calm look on her face.

The leader rolled his eyes, but he did lead Lily away from her team and his gang. The two talked quietly, and eventually Lily handed over something to the leader. Both were smiling when they returned.

"You know," said the teen to Lily "You're a cool little brat." Turning to his team, the leader informed them that Lily and her friends were allowed to cross.

"See ya around." said the leader to Lily as she led Hoagie and Ben away.

"How," asked Hoagie once they were out of earshot "in the name of all things edible did you manage to get us out of that?"

"Kid-Teen Relations Officer." said Lily "That's my job. Why do people keep forgetting that?"

"What'd you give him?" asked Ben curiously.

"Death March 3 Return of the Zombies." said Lily carelessly. "It's an old movie to us, but for them it's not out for another month. Easiest bribe I've ever done."

**

* * *

Team 4 – Tommy, Harvey, and Paddy**

The three operatives of Sector W walked quickly across the field. Harvey was moving the fastest, a frustrated look on his face. Tommy and Paddy were struggling to keep up.

"H-hey Numbuh 363!" panted Tommy "Wanna slow down a little?"

Harvey sped up.

"I guess not." mumbled Tommy as he and Paddy put on a burst of speed and caught up to Harvey.

"What's wrong Numbuh 363?" asked Paddy "Are you still mad that you have to work with Numbuh 1?"

"No." growled Harvey. Tommy and Paddy shared a disbelieving glance.

"Well, yeah, but that's not the only reason!" said Harvey defensively.

"Well then what's wrong?" asked Paddy.

"I just don't get how my sister can trust the new operatives!" burst out Harvey. "The only proof they have is some stupid story they could've easily made up. Why did she trust them so quickly?"

"Dunno." said Paddy.

"Doesn't really matter I guess." said Tommy. "She's the leader. What she says goes."

"Well…" Harvey's voice died as he stopped abruptly, sending Tommy and Paddy crashing into him.

"What the heck Harvey?" asked Paddy. Harvey simply pointed in front of him, his eyes wide. Tommy and Paddy turned to look.

"Whoa."

Before them was the biggest factory they had ever seen. It was easily three stories high, made of black steel, and was spouting smoke. It looked like a much bigger version of the tapioca factories Grandfather had created.

"Uhhh…" said Harvey timidly. "I guess we're uh… here?"

**

* * *

S.C.A.M.P.E.R. – Abby and Ross **

"So how long've you been a spy for?" Ross and Abby had their feet propped on a table as they both relaxed in cushy armchairs. Every once and a while they'd glance at the numerous flashing screens, but until the operatives reached the factory, there wasn't much for them to do.

"Numbuh 5's been a spy since the day she joined the KND." said Abby. "How about you?"

"Only for the past year or so." admitted Ross. "We lost our best spy two years ago, and they decided to train me to take his place."

"What happened?" asked Abby.

"I don't know." shrugged Ross. "One day the kid disappeared on a top-secret-uber-important-urgent secret mission. He didn't report back like he was supposed too, and it caused this huge panic. Eventually he did come back, but there was something wrong with him. He wasn't acting like himself. Our top scientists couldn't figure out what was wrong, so they decommissioned him and sent him home."

"What…" Before Abby could ask her question, her communicator lit up and began to beep.

"Numbuh 5. Come in Numbuh 5. This is Numbuh 1."

"Copy Numbuh 1. What's up?"

"We've reached the factory and have began our mission."

"Got it Numbuh 1." said Abby.

"Numbuh 15? Numbuh 5? This is Numbuh 17."

"Gotcha boss." said Ross. "What's up?"

"We've reached the factory."

"Got it." said Ross.

"Team 4 had reached the factory." said Harvey through the communicator. "And… uh… it's a lot bigger then I thought it would be…"

"Numbuh 362 reporting in. We've reached the target."

"Affirmative sir." said Ross. He put down his headset and turned to Abby.

"And now we wait?" asked Ross.

"And now we wait."


	5. Chapter 5

_A tall gangly teenager walked quickly down the steel hallways of the giant factory. A clipboard was clutched in one hand, a pen in the other. Quickly turning around another corner, he came across a large ornamental door. As he got closer to the door, his pace slowed. The door swung open slowly, and the teen cautiously peeked inside. _

"_Yes?" the teenager jumped and turned to face the owner of the voice. Father sat in a high-backed chair, numerous electronic devices in front of him. _

"_The operatives have arrived right on schedule sir." _

_Father turned menacingly to face the teen. _

"_Excellent. Most excellent indeed." _

* * *

Things were not going to plan.

The operatives stared grimly at the robots around them. After accidentally triggering an alarm, Harvey, Tommy, and Paddy found themselves quickly surrounded by giant ice-cream flinging robots. They had frantically called for back up, and now every operative – Numbuhs 5 and 15 included – were in a frantic fight for their lives.

"Where… do they… keep… _coming _from?" grunted Chelsea as she knocked out yet another robot.

"Look out Becca!" called Lily "There's three right behind you!"

"Well, well, well. What have we here?"

The operatives gasped in surprise as the robots moved aside, creating a path for…

"_Father_." said Nigel grimly.

"My, my, if it isn't the illustrious Sector V. And I see you brought some friends."

Father walked forward carelessly. The operatives raised their weapons pointing them at Father.

"Don't move." said Ben coldly, his eyes fixed on Father's form.

"Tsk, tsk." said Father "Didn't you know pointing weapons at people is not very POLITE?"

At this, a column of flames burst out, melting all the weapons in the operatives' hands. They yelled in alarm.

"Now." said Father calmly. "Where were we? Oh yes, introductions. Let's see…" and evil glint sparked in Father's eyes.

"Sonya…Lee…Harvey…Paddy…Tommy…Ben…Ross…Chelsea…Becca… and Lily. Five brats from this time, and five from the future."

The operative gasped.

"How the _crud_ did you know who we are?" asked Lily disbelievingly.

"Well you see," said Father. "I heard the most interesting story the other day thanks to my little Spy Fly I sent to your tree house. Something about a missing sector, problems in the future, and the most peculiar story about my successor."

Father chuckled. "So here you all are on this little mission to figure out what I'm doing in my factory. Well, allow me to _show you!_"

Quick as lightning, Father pulled a weapon from behind his back. It looked like a giant steel water gun with a massive storage container hooked up to the back. He pointed it at Hoagie and fired.

The operatives watched in horror as the beam lifted Hoagie into the air, thrashing and screaming. A brown light spun around Hoagie, then flew back through the air into the storage container on the gun. Hoagie landed in a heap on the ground.

He didn't look like Hoagie anymore.

In fact, he looked more like an oversized gorilla. His arms and hands were huge, dangling helplessly at his sides. His chin protruded, and his once bright eyes now were blank.

"Peanut butter bowling balls." mumbled Hoagie.

"What did you do to him?" asked Abby as she starred in horror.

"It's simple really." shrugged Father. "Some time ago I was lucky enough to run into an acquaintance of yours – a Miss Henrietta Van Marzipan. And with her, she had the most peculiar book. A book which described the process of taking what the victim prizes most, and converting it into caramel."

Sector V (minus Hoagie) gasped with horror.

"She was kind enough to give me the book." continued Father. "I gave the book to my scientists, and they discovered a most interesting thing. They have found away to repeat the process – but instead of creating caramel it creates energy – very powerful energy – which I can collect and use to fuel my delightfulization chamber. Already, I have collected energy from the other KND members who foolishly tried to infiltrate my factory."

"Now," said Father, his eyes glowing. "Who's next?"

"Kids Next Door!" cried Rachael. "Retreat!"

"Oh no you don't!" cried Father as he pointed his weapon at Rachael.

"Look out!" screamed Nigel as he shoved her out of the way.

Father shot again. This time he hit his target.

Chelsea screamed as she was lifted in the air, her blue eyes wide as she struggled. The brown light engulfed her.

"Chelsea!" yelled Ross as he ran towards his sister.

Slowly the light retreated, leaving Chelsea in a crumpled heap on the ground.

"Chelsea?" said Ross as he bent over her.

Shivering, Chelsea sat up. "S-scary." she muttered over and over. "S-scary…"

A butterfly flew past and landed on her knee. Shrieking, Chelsea threw herself away, crying in fear.

"What happened to her?" asked Ross. "She's not afraid of anything!"

"That's the point fool!" cried Abby as she pulled him out of the laser's path.

"Hiya!" Wally jumped towards one of the robots, kicking the weapon from its hands. The others (except Hoagie and Chelsea) soon followed suit. The robots quickly formed a protective circle around Father.

"Kids Next Door!" cried Rachael "Battle Stations!"

* * *

Ten minutes later the fight was still going strong. The robots had prevented the KND from reaching Father, but they also prevented Father from using his newest weapon on any more of the operatives.

Over half the robots had been destroyed or disabled, and yet there were still at least thirty robots still in the protective circle.

"We can't hold out much longer!" called Ross as he stood in front of Chelsea, protecting her from the robot's ice-cream attacks.

"Anybody got a plan?" asked Abby as she and Wally stood in front of Hoagie, firing shots at the remaining robots.

"That's it." groaned Lily as fire lit up her eyes. Shoving her hand in her pocket, Lily grabbed a small rubber ball and threw it as hard as she could towards the remaining robots. It bounced harmlessly off.

"What the _heck_ was that supposed to do?" sneered Harvey from his spot next to Rachael.

"Wait for it…" mumbled Lily, her eyes fixed on the ball.

Slowly, without any warning, a robot fell on the ground followed by another and another until all the robots were laying on the ground, disabled. One by one, they slowly exploded, leaving Father in the center of a ring of charred metal.

"Those are only for emergencies Numbuh 19." said Ben disapprovingly. "We have a limited supply you know."

"That _was_ an emergency." grumbled Lily as she and the other operatives pointed their weapons firmly at Father.

"Ha." said Lily smugly, feeling an unexplainable urge to gloat. "Take that Father. My dad was one of the best fighters the KND ever had. No way you'll ever beat me!"

"Let's see how well you fight," said Father menacingly his eyes boring holes into Lily with the intensity of his anger. "When you no longer exist!"

With a roar, a giant fireball appeared above Father's head, twisting and crackling.

Heaving, Father threw the ball as hard as he could straight at…

"KUKI!" yelled Wally and Lily at the same time. Kuki was staring up at the giant fireball coming towards her, her violet eyes wide. Even if she tried to run, there was no chance she could get out of the way in time. Whimpering, Kuki dropped to the ground and covered her head, waiting for the impact. Wally tried to run towards Kuki, only to be stopped by Abby.

"What good'll it do her if you get yourself torched?" asked Abby as Wally fought her grip.

"Lily!" Everyone turned at Becca's outcry to see Lily (who was much closer to Kuki then Wally was) running as fast as she could towards Kuki. No one was close enough to stop her.

"Numbuh 19, get back here!" yelled Ben. Lily's response was to run faster. The operatives held their breath as the fireball got closer and closer to Kuki and Lily. The fireball had almost reached them, when Lily put on an extra burst of speed and threw herself in front of Kuki, slapping her black bracelet as she did so.

_**BOOM. **_The explosion ripped through the air, sending a shockwave that knocked all the operatives over, and sent Father flying into the wall of his factory.

"Kuki!" Wally scrambled up from the ground and ran as fast as he could in the general direction Kuki was just in. The other operatives followed him quickly.

"Lily?" called Becca "Lily? Please say you're alive!"

"I wish they could be." said Nigel sadly "But how in the world could they escape a fireball of that size?" Tears filled his eyes.

"GUYS!" screamed Sonya "Look!"

Everyone turned. A black and red dome was completely covering the spot Kuki and Lily had last been in. The dome was the size of a small tent, and flickered here and there with small sparks of electricity.

"What _is _that?" asked Paddy as he stared at the dome.

The dome flickered, and then without warning, disappeared, leaving behind Kuki and Lily, looking very much alive.

"Dang it." grumbled Lily. "My bracelet melted."

Becca slapped her forehead. "I'm an idiot." she said to herself. "I _completely _forgot about the bracelets!"

"The… bracelets?" asked Rachael as Abby and Chelsea helped Lily and Kuki up. "Would someone please explain why Kuki and Lily aren't dead?"

"It's one of those more high tech weapons I was talking about." said Becca. "Force field in a bracelet. Simply press the right spot on the bracelet, and in less then a second, you're protected by a force field."

"Apparently flaming fireballs are a bit much for it though." said Lily looking at the ashen remains of her bracelet.

"How many of you have yours?" Ben asked his team.

"N-Not m-me." whimpered Chelsea as she hid behind her hands.

"I've got mine." said Ross, holding out his blue sweatband.

"Mine melted." said Lily sadly.

"Mine fell off during the last battle." admitted Becca.

"And I used up all the power in mine during the earlier battle." said Ben "You didn't bring the charger did you?"

Becca shook her head no.

"Okay then." said Ben. "We have exactly one force field left. We'll save it until we really need it."

"Um, Numbuh 17?" said Tommy. "We might need it now."

Everyone turned to see Father limping up the hill, his weapon very much intact and operational.

"Well, well." said Father menacingly as he stomped forward. "You children have been very, very NAUGHTY!" With a roar, a giant ring of fire, much too high to jump sprang around the operatives, trapping them. As the operatives yelled in surprise, Father took the opportunity to once again blast their weapons into charred masses of metal.

"Now then." said Father as he walked through the fire, "Wh–"

A low buzzing filled the air. The operatives and Father searched the scene trying to find the source.

"What the..?" Father was forced to jump back out of the fire ring as a small plane the size of a van landed expertly in the center of the ring. The pilot jumped out of the cockpit, his black glasses glinting.

"C'mon." said the Kid as he grabbed Kuki's hand. Wally growled. "Get in the plane."

Kid helped Kuki into the co-pilot seat as the other operatives piled in. Wally positioned himself as close to Kuki as he could, steaming the whole time. Next to him, Lily was also fuming.

"Go, go!" cried Rachael as soon as everyone was in.

"Get back here!" called Father angrily stomping towards the plane. With a whir of propellers, the plane blasted into the sky, leaving Father and his factory a small speck on the ground.

* * *

"_Let's see how well you fight when you no longer exist!" _

Father's words had caught Abby's attention. Actually, it was his actions _after _the words that were so intriguing.

"_Let's see how well you fight when you no longer exist!" _

Something wasn't right. He had so obviously been yelling at Lily, and yet Kuki was the person he had aimed for.

Why had Lily looked so frightened? So utterly, truly frightened? She had looked as though her life depended on it.

"_Let's see how well you fight when you no longer exist!" _

Abby brought up a picture of Lily in her mind. Tall, willowy, bright emerald eyes, flowing black hair.

A picture of Kuki appeared in her mind, followed quickly by a picture of Wally.

_Green eyes. Black hair. _

Oh boy.

**

* * *

A/N: As you may or may not be able to tell, Lily has a bit of an ego. Many believe that the teens sort of rubbed off on her a little. (You know, that 'king of the world' attitude some teen boys have.) Besides being the Kid-Teen Relations Officer, Lily also acquired quite a bit of her dad's fighting skills. Fighting skills + ego = bad combo when fighting Father. **

**As for Father throwing the fire-ball at Kuki… Father knows the kids are from the future, and Lily actually looks a lot like Kuki. Father's not dumb; he could easily make the connection.**

**The last part's supposed to be suspenseful, because Future Sector V can't let anybody find out about their parents, because that could change the future. Dun dun dunnnn. **

**Just want to give a shout-out to theflyingcupcake. She's making these super-duper-awesome-spectacular pictures of future Sector V ^^**

**Chelsea and Ross can be seen here: **http://numbuh-keyes (dot) deviantart (dot) com/art/future-sector-v-part1-15-16-149352270

**And Ben can be seen here: **http://numbuh-keyes (dot) deviantart (dot) com/art/future-sector-v-part-2-17-149666396

**You should go look at them. They're gooooooooood. (A heck of a lot better then mine, that's for sure) **

**Thanks for reading!**

**Andra **


	6. Chapter 6

"How'd you know where to find us?"

The operatives were gathered in Sector V's main room, recuperating after their recent escape. Hoagie and Chelsea were situated in a corner, Hoagie staring blankly, Chelsea shivering with fear. Ross and Ben sat nearby, their eyes constantly glancing with concern at the two operatives. Nigel was sitting upright in his chair, Rachael and Harvey to his left. The three sat calmly, their faces controlled, although their eyes betrayed their worry.

Abby lounged on the sofa, Becca next to her. Becca was wringing her hands with worry, while Abby mulled over her recent revelation, her eyes straying to glance at Lily, then Kuki, then Wally, repeating the cycle several times.

Wally and Lily sat on the floor, both of them sending the occasional glare at Ace, who had managed to situate himself next to the beautiful oriental girl. Kuki for her part was playing with a lavender rainbow monkey sitting on her lap.

Lee and Sonya leaned against a wall, Lee playing with his yo-yo, Sonya watching him absentmindedly. A couple feet away, Paddy and Tommy stood, their arms crossed on their chests.

Tommy had been the one to pose the question, directing his gaze to the brown-coated pilot.

Ace shrugged. "I hadn't seen Hoagie in a while," explained Ace, his accent coating every word. His eyes flitted towards Kuki, clearly showing Hoagie wasn't the _only _reason for Ace wanting to visit Sector V. "And I figured I might as well drop by. I was flying to the tree house when my radar picked up massive energy levels. I was curious, so I flew over, saw you guys were in trouble, and decided to help."

"We're glad you did." said Rachael. Lily mumbled under her breath, sending another glare towards Ace, who was slowly inching himself closer to an oblivious Kuki.

"Would you be willing to stick around and help?" Wally and Lily jumped slightly at Rachael's words, clearly wishing to be rid of Ace as soon as they could. "With Hoagie disabled, Sector V needs another pilot."

"Sure." said Ace easily.

"Okay." said Rachael, slipping into her leader mode. "First up, the most important thing to do right now, is fix Hoagie and Chelsea."

Rachael locked her eyes on Becca's. "I know you guys haven't told us everything you know, and I'm not gonna push you for answers yet. But I do need to know, for Numbuh 2 and Numbuh 16's sake, is there any way you know of to reverse the effects?"

Becca sighed. "Not really." her hands twisted. "The only cure we know of is decommissioning. We don't know why, we don't know how, but we do know that somehow decommissioning reverses the effects. Of course, we hate to do it, because there's no way to recomission them."

Rachael slumped back into her chair.

"I'd hate to decommission them." mused Rachael to herself. "Father said he's used his device on all the KND operatives I've sent… that's 7 operatives including Hoagie… I'd hate to lose so many."

"Isn't there anything we can do?" asked Tommy, his eyes looking sadly at his brother.

"Maybe…" every one turned to face Becca. "Maybe if we could get a hold of the book Father was talking about, we could use it to find the antidote."

Rachael nodded slowly, turning the idea over in her mind.

"Numbuh 1, Numbuh 363, and Numbuh 17." said Rachael addressing the three sector leaders. "We need to meet and discuss this. Tommy, Becca, and anyone else you want to help, start researching a cure. Numbuhs 5 and 15, rest up, you two will probably be the ones to infiltrate the factory. Numbuh 3, take care of Hoagie and Chelsea. Numbuh 17, who's your sector's medic? They can help Kuki."

Ben looked up from his hands, pain in his eyes. "Chelsea." he said roughly. "Chelsea's our medic."

"Oh." said Rachael. "Okay then. Umm… who's willing to help Kuki?"

"I will." said Lily quickly.

"Alright." said Rachael. "We'll meet back here at twenty hundred hours."

* * *

"Hey Numbuh 19, wait up." Abby paced slowly towards the girl. Lily halted, smiling tightly at the brown-skinned girl. The other operatives had already gone, leaving Abby and Lily alone in the hall.

"Can Numbuh 5 talk to you for a second?" asked Abby seriously, gesturing to a nearby room – the kitchen to be exact.

"Sure." said Lily as she stepped inside. They both seated themselves at the table, Lily twisting her hands nervously.

"It's about earlier today." said Abby seriously getting straight to the point. "Father got mad at you, yet he aimed for Kuki. Why?"

Lily's stomach dropped.

"Crud." she whispered, her green eyes dropping. "You already know don't you?"

Abby nodded slowly. "Why didn't you tell us Kuki was your mom?"

Lily stared at her hands hesitantly. "I'm not supposed to tell you this…" she mumbled quietly. "But I will as long as you promise never to tell a single soul. Not Numbuh 3, not Numbuh 1, not even Numbuh 362."

"Numbuh 5 promises." said Abby seriously, crossing her hand over her heart. "Cross my heart and hope to die."

Lily nodded. "Yeah, Kuki's my mom."

"And Numbuh 4's your dad right?" guessed Abby.

Lily merely nodded.

"Would that explain why you won't stop giving Ace the evil eye?" asked Abby a twinkle of amusement present in her face.

"Hmph." said Lily, a ghost of a smile appearing on her face. "He's trying to get between my mom and dad. No kid likes to see that."

"Does Abby have a kid in your sector?" Lily jumped.

"I-I can't say." said Lily, her face betraying the real answer.

"Ben right?" said Abby, stating rather then asking.

Lily blew out a breath. "No use hiding it anymore." grumbled Lily to herself. "Numbuh 17 is gonna _kill _me."

"Don't worry." said Abby comfortingly. "Abby won't tell anybody."

"Ben's yours." acknowledged Lily. "And you know the parents of the other kids too."

"Who's Ben's dad?" asked Abby curiously.

"That, I'm not saying." said Lily firmly. "I'm not risking changing the future by revealing too much."

"Can you at least tell me the parents of the other kids?"

Lily tapped her fingers lightly against the smooth wood fibers, contemplating seriously, her nose scrunching and eyes narrowing, looking eerily similar to Wally attempting to think.

"You tell _nobody._" said Lily fiercely, her eyes locked on Abby's.

"Nobody." promised Abby.

* * *

"Hand me the monkey wrench would ya Numbuh T?"

Becca was currently underneath a small platform supporting a KND decommissioning chair they had put together using the top-secret plans Numbuh 362 had obtained for them.

"Would you remind me why we're putting together a decommissioning machine?" said Paddy as he eyed the machine.

"Gotta figure out," panted Becca as she strained to tighten a bolt "why decommissioning reverses the effects of Father's weapon. Gotcha!"

Becca pushed herself back out from under the platform, oil streaked across her face.

"I think that should work," said Becca as she eyed the machine, "but I don't have a way to test it."

"Too bad we can't make a fake operative." mused Sonya. "Like a robot or something."

"That's it!" said Becca brightening considerably. "In the future we have these robots we call ROSALIE, or Robot Operative (that) Simulates A Living Individual Easily. They're named after the KND scientist who invented them. We use them to test our weapons on, but with a few modifications we could test the decommissioning machine on it."

"That's cool and all." piped up Lee. "But do you know how to make one?"

"Easy." shrugged Becca. "I just need the necessary parts."

"Make a list of what you need, and we'll find it for you." said Tommy as he pulled out a pad of paper.

"Nu-uh." said Becca as she took the paper from Tommy. "You guys aren't allowed to know how to make one. You might be tempted to use it."

"And that would be bad because?" asked Tommy.

"It just would." said Becca. "Trust me."

"Do we have a choice?" mumbled Tommy quietly.

* * *

"We need a plan."

"Thanks for stating the obvious baldy." said Harvey condescendingly.

"Numbuh 363." reprimanded Rachael. "What did I say about being mean?"

"Sorry." grumbled Harvey.

"Now," continued Rachael, passing over Harvey's lack of sincerity. "I'm only going to send in two operatives – Numbuh 5 and Numbuh 15. The less operatives in there, the less chance of detection."

"No."

"What?" Harvey, Rachael, and Nigel turned to face Ben.

"I'm sorry." said Ben. "But there's no way I'm allowing Ross to go on this mission."

"Is it dangerous?" asked Nigel.

"Not for the operatives." said Ben. "But Ross already knows the outcome, and him going with Numbuh 5 could change the future drastically. I'm sorry, but Numbuh 15 is not going on this mission, and that's final."

"Fine." said Rachael after some consideration. "Numbuh 5 will go by herself. Our first priority will be finding the book. Once we have that, we'll launch a full out attack to free the other operatives. Unfortunately, we didn't find out a lot during our mission today. We learned that there are at least five guards at every door, and that the vents are too small for a kid to fit in. We know he has a variety of teens working for him, and even managed to identify a couple. Our biggest setback is the fact that we have no idea where Father keeps the book, only that it's probably well guarded or close by Father."

"You know about this don't you?" said Nigel to Ben. "It's obvious you know a lot more then you're telling us."

"You're right." shrugged Ben "I know _exactly _what happens, and how to get into the factory. But I can't tell you."

"Why not?" asked Harvey.

"We can't do anything that could change the future." explained Ben. "It's too dangerous. I'm really sorry, but you're going to have to figure it out for yourself."

"You're really helpful, you know that?" grumbled Harvey.

* * *

Abby needed to think.

She padded down the less used hallways of the tree house, a lollipop in her mouth, her mind whirling with the information Lily had told her.

_Chelsea and Ross are Sonya and Lee's kids._

Abby could see it easily. Chelsea was easily a miniature Sonya, and Ross was about an equal mixture of the two.

_Ben is Abby's. _

Again, Abby realized she could see it. His skin was slightly lighter then hers, but they had similar features. He even wore a hat similar to hers. His bright blue eyes were eerily familiar, but Abby couldn't put her finger on whose eyes they resembled. She put aside the mystery of who his dad was for the moment. Frankly, she wasn't sure if she was ready to know.

_Lily is Wally and Kuki's. _

Once again, no problem to see, as Wally and Kuki were so obviously meant for each other. Abby had no problem believing they would someday get married.

_But who are Becca's parents?_

Abby frowned. That (besides the identity of Ben's dad) was the one piece of information Abby couldn't get out of Lily.

"I'm sorry," Lily had said "but nothing is going to convince me to tell you who Becca's parents are, and that's final. And don't you _dare_ ask Becca."

Abby had promised, but that didn't stop her from wondering.

_Who are Becca's parents?_

_And most importantly, why won't Lily say who they are? _

That puzzled Abby. She understood the necessity of not knowing Ben's dad, as that could majorly screw up her relationship with him in the future, but why couldn't she know Becca's parents?

Lily told her every child's parentage except Becca.

_Why?_

Abby rubbed her temple; sure that she was missing something crucial.

_Start at the beginning. _

Becca had brown hair and blue eyes. Abby mentally prepared a list of all the people she knew with brown hair and/or blue eyes.

_Hoagie. . .Nigel. . .Rachael. . .Tommy. . . Harvey. . . _

Abby rubbed her temple harder. This wasn't really helping. She knew _a lot _of operatives with blue eyes and brown hair. Lily had simply specified that she _knew _the operatives, not necessarily knew them _well. _Plus there was always the whole recessive/dominant gene science crud. Becca's parents didn't necessarily _have _to have brown hair or blue eyes.

Abby groaned. This was getting more complicated by the second.

_Deep breaths. Relax. Try again. _

* * *

Abby wasn't the only one who needed to think. Lily had left the medical room, and gone to the main room, where she was currently tracing circles in the floor with her pacing.

_What the crud did I do? _

Lily halted, only to resume her pacing. She had done the unspeakable, broken the one rule they were ordered _never _under _any _circumstances to break.

_Oh crud, what if I've changed the future?_

Numbuh 17 had warned them _many _times how easy it would be to change the future. Their very _presence _could be enough to change the future. And they wouldn't know, until they found a way to get back.

But it had felt so _good _to get part of the secret off of her chest. She had never been good with secrets.

Lily was glad Abby hadn't pressed her further on the identity of Ben's dad. As far as she could tell, Hoagie and Abby hadn't really begun to seriously consider being more then friends. Understandable really, after all, they were only ten.

_Why didn't I just tell her Becca's parents?_

Lily swallowed hard as she paced. What if she had just told Abby? What if she had just come out and told her that Nigel and Rachael were Becca's mom and dad? She could've passed it off as no big deal, and maybe Abby wouldn't notice…

But she had been afraid, afraid that Abby would try to talk to Becca about her parents. Lily knew Becca well enough to notice how close she was to snapping. She hid it well, but Lily could tell that Becca was incredibly stressed and desperate for help. Lily feared that if Abby hinted that she knew Becca's secret, Becca would break down and tell Abby _everything. _

Lily shuddered at the thought. That would be bad. _Very _bad.

Lily sighed as she slumped down on a mattress. She'd give so much for this to be over.

_

* * *

::Sometime in the Future::_

"Where's my daughter?"

A black silhouette stood upright, hands behind his back as he stared coldly at the trembling man before him. Next to the dark figure, stood a man very closely resembling a grown up Numbuh Four. However, this man had a black goatee and was stroking it menacingly, his eyes focused on the trembling man as well.

The man nervously ran a hand through his brown hair, his blue eyes wide with fright.

"I-I'm s-sorry Ni-"

"STOP!" the black silhouette roared as flames burst from him. "I thought I told you never to use that name again!"

"S-Sorry!" squeaked the man, dropping to the ground in fright. "I-I'm sorry Mr. Numbuhless One sir."

"Better." said the Numbuhless One coldly, the flames retreating. "Now. Let me ask you again. Where. Is. My. _Daughter_?"

"I-I don't know." said the man anxiously. "S-She l-left with her f-friends to g-go on a mission a-and she didn't come back."

"Harvey." said the Numbuhless One, contempt dripping from every syllable. "You are the most miserable excuse for an uncle I've ever met. You mean to tell me, that while _my_ daughter was under _your_ care, she went _missing?" _

His voice was calm, but it was easy to sense the anger building. Harvey gulped.

"I-I thought y-you didn't l-like k-kids." mumbled Harvey.

"I hate kids!" yelled the Numbuhless One, his anger finally getting the better of him. "Which is why we need to find my daughter! She's the brightest inventor the KND ever had! Who knows what she's up to right now? I know for a fact she was smart enough to create a _time machine _for Pete's sake…"

The Numbuhless One's breath caught. His eyes narrowed, and his fists clenched.

"Yllaw." he said, not bothering to look at the man beside him. "Show Mr. Mackenzie to the door would you? I have something to take care of."

"What?" asked Yllaw as he roughly grabbed Harvey's arm. "Where'd Becca go?"

"To the past." growled the Numbuhless One. "Call Big Brother and Big Sister. Tell them to meet me at Sector V's tree house. We've got an appointment with some old friends."

**

* * *

A/N: I just want to say thank you for all the reviews you guys are giving to this piece, it blows me away the love I've received for this. Thank you thank you thank you! **

**I also want to thank DarkRoseMoons and theflyingcupcake who have both made drawings of Future Sector V. They're both amazing drawers, and I HIGHLY recommend you check these pictures out. **

_**theflyingcupcake:**_

**Ben can be seen here: **http://numbuh-keyes (dot) deviantart (dot) com/art/future-sector-v-part-2-17-149666396

**Chelsea and Ross can be seen here: **http://numbuh-keyes (dot) deviantart (dot) com/art/future-sector-v-part1-15-16-149352270

**Lily can be seen here: **http://numbuh-keyes (dot) deviantart (dot) com/art/Future-Sector-V-part-4-19-153958760

**Becca can be seen here: **http://numbuh-keyes (dot) deviantart (dot) com/art/Future-Sector-V-part3-18-153364576

_**DarkRoseMoons:**_

**The Complete Future Sector V can be seen here: **http://darkrosemoons (dot) deviantart (dot) com/art/Stolen-Time-Fanart-153335484

**I just want to thank both of you, it really means a lot that you two would take the time to draw my characters. **

_***gives you both lots of virtual hugs* **_

**T-T-T-That's all folks!**

**Andra **


	7. Chapter 7

"Finished! You guys can come in now."

Tommy, Lee, and Sonya slowly re-entered the room, their eyes staring cautiously at Becca, who was standing proudly beside two ROSALIEs.

Eyes wide, Tommy, Lee, and Sonya circled the robots, being careful not to get too close.

The first ROSALIE was the size of the average ten year old. It had a bulky old computer for a head, with pixilated eyes, nose, and smile flashing on the screen. A large steel box – once a rubbish bin – served as the body, protecting the wiring inside. A keyboard was fastened precariously to the front. The arms were a mass of Styrofoam cups glued together, with two boxes representing hands. The legs were short steel beams, with two Kleenex boxes acting as feet. A wire ran from the side of the robot to the second ROSALIE.

The second ROSALIE looked like a giant doll, so lifelike that the operatives couldn't help but stare. The ROSALIE was situated in the decommissioning chair, a blue helmet on top of its head. It had dark black hair, light brown skin, painted brown eyes and was dressed in a gown similar to those found in hospitals. There were hundreds of quarter size red dots situated all across the figure. Tommy, Lee, and Sonya refrained from asking how Becca had created such a lifelike doll – they knew she wouldn't tell them anyway.

A few feet away a wooden chair sat, a red helmet resting on the seat.

"How does it work?" asked Tommy curiously.

"In English please." requested Paddy.

"An operative sits in that chair and puts on the red helmet." began Becca pointing at the chair in question. "The helmet reads the brainwaves of the operative and 'copies' them into the ROSALIE in the decommissioning chair. Then the ROSALIE reacts to anything we do to it, the same way the operative in the chair would, without the operative actually being affected. The wire connecting the two ROSALIEs transfers the reaction data from the first ROSALIE to the second one, allowing us to map out what's happening, which we can then use to figure out _why _it's happening."

There was dead silence.

"What are you _talking _about?" asked Paddy. Becca groaned with frustration.

"Okay, look," began Becca as she racked her brain for a better explanation.

"Say I was wearing that red helmet," began Becca, tapping the helmet for emphasis "This helmet would transfer my brainwaves – the way I think, my emotions, _everything_, into that ROSALIE on the decommissioning chair. It'd basically be a non-living version of myself. Then, if we, for example, used the decommissioning machine on the first ROSALIE, the second ROSALIE would tell us how I would react to the machine – _without _anything actually happening to me."

"Got it." said Paddy. "Sort of."

"Alright then." said Becca breezily as she walked over to the second ROSALIE. "Get in the seat Tommy."

"What?" cried Tommy, stepping back a few feet. "Why me?"

"Because." said Becca as she typed a code into the computer. "I need something close to Hoagie and Chelsea's original brainwave frequency. Since I doubt you have Hoagie's brainwaves on file, I need to copy yours. Since he's your brother, your brains are very similar, although they don't necessarily work the same. Still, it's as close as I'm gonna get."

"What about Chelsea?" asked Tommy weakly.

"Ross will work for her." said Becca as she turned away from the ROSALIE. "But he's not here now, and you are."

"I'm confused." said Paddy. "Why do you need the brainwaves anyway?"

"How can I put this?" mumbled Becca quietly. "I need an original version so I can compare it to the frequency Numbuhs 2 and 16 brainwaves are currently on. Hopefully I can compare the two, and figure out where the problem is."

"I'll take your word for it." said Paddy, clearly not understanding.

"Alright Numbuh T." said Becca, gesturing to the chair. "For Hoagie."

Tommy opened his mouth, then closed it again. Clenching his jaw. He walked slowly to the chair, distrust present in his eyes.

"For Hoagie."

* * *

Abby was pacing again.

She seemed to be doing a lot of that these days.

Abby groaned and pressed her hands to her forehead.

She needed time to _think. _

Numbuh 362 had just given her the mission instructions. They were very _very_ vague. Find a way in. Find the book. Get out. Exactly _how _to do that was still unknown.

Any other time, Abby would've enjoyed the challenge this mission presented.

Now she wished someone else could do the thinking.

_Guards at every door. Air vents too small to enter. Top-notch security system. Teenagers. _

Abby groaned. If only she could _think. _

Abby kneaded her fist into her forehead. She felt like she should know this; that if she thought hard enough, the answer would float from the recesses of her brain.

Nothing.

_Guards, vents, security, teens. Guards vents security teens. Guardsventssecurityteens. _

Why couldn't she think?

_Guards. Vents. Security. Teens. _

_Teens. _

_Teens. _

Abby lowered her hands from her face, a smile breaking out.

She had found her ticket in.

* * *

"Ready Tommy?"

"As I'll ever be." muttered Tommy. He was currently sitting in the wooden chair, the red helmet strapped firmly to his head. Lee, Paddy, and Sonya – at Becca's request – were standing as close to the wall as they could, uncertainty and fear mixed on their faces.

"Okay then," mumbled Becca as she flipped on the non-humanlike ROSALIE. "Calibration 6772.45, record and copy results, brainwave only."

"Reading in 3…2…1…"

Tommy tensed as the lining of the helmet molded to his head. It squeezed lightly, and Tommy could swear something cool and moist had slipped into his brain. He felt it slowly move around is brain, and eventually he felt himself relax. It actually felt pretty good; it was numbing him into a state of relaxation. Sighing happily, he closed his eyes, enjoying the sensation of the unknown _something _flitting through his brain. Soon enough the sensation faded, and the helmet's lining released its grip on his head.

"Awesome." came Becca's voice by the boxy ROSALIE. "These maps came out really well. You can come see if you'd like Tommy."

Tommy lifted his hands to the helmet straps and realized they were shaking with exhaustion. He took off the helmet and stumbled over to Becca.

The maps were the size of a small poster. Each of them had a large diagram of a brain on it. There were splashes of color everywhere, and words too, explaining what the colors meant. Tommy tried to figure out what the maps were saying, but eventually gave up.

"See here?" said Becca as she pointed to one of the diagrams. "You have a pretty large amount of gray matter – a bit more then most people. That's really good. You've got a really nice brain."

"Uh, thanks, I guess?" said Tommy uncertainly.

"You guys can come see too." said Becca to Lee, Sonya, and Paddy who were still against the wall.

"We're good thanks." said Paddy moving ever so slightly closer to the wall.

"Suit yourself. shrugged Becca. "Back into the chair Tommy."

"But I'm _tired_." whined Tommy.

"Please?" said Becca. "I just need a map of what happens to the brain during decommissioning. I swear nothing bad will happen to you. For Hoagie?"

Tommy just sighed noisily and plopped back into the chair.

* * *

Abby tapped her fingers anxiously on her knee as she adjusted the phone pressed to her ear. She was sitting in her room, on her couch.

Nervously she listened to the phone ring. She hoped her guess was right… and that she wasn't putting her trust in the wrong person.

_No other way. _

"Hello?" a deep voice floated out of the speaker.

"Maurice?" said Abby seriously. "Numbuh 5's got a favor to ask ya."

_

* * *

SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE_

"Did you find it?"

The Numbuhless One was situated comfortably on the couch in the main room of Sector V's tree house. If he cared to, he could look around and see evidence of the life the five operatives had built there – Becca's sweater thrown haphazardly over a chair, one of Ross's extra yo-yos sitting on the nearby table, Chelsea's _Rainbow Monkey _Magazine opened to the story of _Red Raspberry Rainbow Monkey and the Missing Blueberries, _Lily's neatly organized collection of Yipper Cards, Ben's second favorite hat sitting neatly on a shelf – but he had eyes only for the girl in front of him.

"Well, Big Sister?" asked the Numbuhless One coldly. "Have you come to report you've successfully found my daughter's time machine?"

"It's not here."

"What do you mean?" snarled the Numbuhless One "Where else could it be?"

"Dunno sir." shrugged the girl. She was seven feet tall, and muscular. Her face was cold and calculating, a perpetual frown line between her eyes. "But it's not here."

The Numbuhless One gnashed his teeth together. "Well then. I guess-"

A chime of music emitted from The Numbuhless One's side. Reaching over, he picked up his cell phone and glanced at the caller id.

"Yes Yllaw?" he growled. "This better be good."

"I've found the time machine."

"What?"

"I've found the time machine."

"Where?"

"Park. It was the last place our fighters saw Sector V."

"Excellent." a gleam appeared in the Numbuhless One's eyes. "Bring it here. Now."

"Right away sir." said Yllaw respectfully before ending the call.

"Get Big Brother." snapped The Numbuhless One to Big Sister. "Go."

Five minutes later, Big Brother, Big Sister, and Yllaw were assembled before the Numbuhless One.

"Yllaw. Leave. Only Big Brother and Big Sister will accompany me. You are in charge while I'm gone. Do not make me regret my decision."

Yllaw saluted and left.

"Come my friends." murmured the Numbuless One as he examined the small box-like machine, locating the proper button. "It's been so long since I've seen my daughter. I do believe I should pay her a visit."

He pressed the button.

**

* * *

A/N: Confused? Good. You should be. **

**Avatar was largely inspirational for how ROSALIE works. Could you tell? **

**I know there was a lot of technical information in this one, and I apologize if any of it was boring or confusing, but it simply had to be done. There'll be some more actiony stuff later, promise. I also apologized for the lack of diversity when it came to characters used, but I absolutely _needed _to get these scenes out of the way.  
**

**I apologize for the lack of updating, not only for this story, but my other ones too. I'm at the final quarter of school, and my brain is ready to **_**die. **_**I seriously can't remember being so busy before in my life. I'm not dead, on hiatus, or suffering from writers block. I simply don't have **_**time **_**to write, and probably won't until this summer. Sorry.I'll do my best, but don't get your hopes up m'kay?  
**

**Thanks for reading ^^**

**::((Andra)):: **


	8. Chapter 8

It was nice to relax.

Ben was sitting on a chair in the main room, legs crossed beneath him, and a soda in his hand.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd gotten to sit down and just enjoy a soda. The future hadn't often granted him that luxury.

Muted footsteps came down the hall, stopping right outside the door. Ben looked up. Becca stood in the doorway, looking more exhausted then Ben had ever seen her.

"Where's Numbuh 15?" asked Ben, taking in Becca's appearance. Her hair was mused, as though she had continuously ran her hand through it. She had yet to change her clothes, still wearing her scorched shirt and skirt from the battle. There were round circles under her eyes, and her shoulders were sagging.

"Sleeping." mumbled Becca as she plopped down on the sofa. "I just finished copying his, Hoagie, and Chelsea's brainwaves."

She closed her eyes and groaned.

"You want a soda?" offered Ben, rising from his chair.

"Please." mumbled Becca, her eyes still shut. He walked over to the cooler Sonya had been kind enough to lend to them and opened the lid, pulling a purple soda from the ice and water.

"Here." said Ben, sitting next to Becca. "They don't have your favorite… hasn't been invented yet I guess… but hopefully this is just as good."

Becca smiled weakly and took the soda.

"Any progress?" asked Ben. He hated asking her – she really needed to get some sleep – but at the same time, it was important he stayed updated.

Becca sighed. "Not as much as I hoped for."

"What did Sector W think of ROSALIE?" asked Ben curiously. "They were watching right?"

"Yeah." sighed Becca. "They were really weirded out by it."

They sat in silence.

"They don't like us you know." whispered Becca, breaking the stillness.

"Yeah." nodded Ben. "They don't believe us."

Silence fell again. Ben took his hat off his head, twisting it in his hands. Becca's eyes were closed again, her breathing slightly ragged.

Ben's mind wandered. He wished he could go home, as bad as it was. At least there he could see his mom, and eat her chocolate chip cookies. He missed her and his dad's hugs, and the way they always tucked him in at night, even though he complained that he was getting to old to be tucked in like a baby. He sighed sadly as thoughts of his parents ran through his head. He missed them. It was the first time he'd ever been homesick. It was a weird feeling, an ache inside his belly.

He sat up straighter as a question popped into his head, one he hadn't thought to ask sooner.

"Numbuh 18?" asked Ben casually, "What'd you do with the time portal?"

"Hmm?" said Becca as she turned her face towards Ben, her eyes slightly glazed over.

"I asked you what you did with the time portal." he repeated.

"Dunno really." shrugged Becca. "Probably in the same place we last were before we came here. I haven't fixed a couple of bugs in it yet."

"Bugs?" asked Ben uneasily. "You didn't tell me about any bugs."

"Should I've?" asked Becca concerned. "I mean, it's not much of a bug, it's just a stupid little one."

"Well, what is it?" asked Ben, the unease in his stomach growing.

"The time portal can't travel with us." said Becca. "It opens the portal, but it can't enter it itself."

"You mean," said Ben his stomach heading towards full panic mode. "That our top-secret time portal is lying in the park where _anybody _can find it? That we don't have a way to get home?"

"I can always build a new one." said Becca. "I've got the blueprints memorized. It wasn't difficult to make, just difficult to discover."

"Becca." said Ben, fighting to remain calm. "Answer my question. Are you telling me that our _top-secret, super important _time portal is lying in a park where anyone, _including your dad,_ can get it?"

Becca's eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open.

"Crud." she whispered "Crud, crud, _crud." _

* * *

"Thanks again for doing this Maurice."

"No problem Abs." said Maurice, frowning slightly. "You sure you can fit?"

Abby was currently squeezing herself into a small cart. It was boxed in at the bottom, forming a small cupboard. She had successfully wedged her legs into the tiny area, and was now attempting to fit her torso in such a way that she still had the ability to breathe.

"Yeah." panted Abby as she shoved her palms forcefully against the concrete sidewalk. "Numbuh 5's got this." With one last shove, she managed to push the rest of her body in. It was a tight squeeze. Her knees where scrunched together, and pulled tight against her chest. Her arms were wrapped around them, holding them in place. Her head was bent downward, her forehead resting on her knee.

Maurice leaned down. "Here." he said positioning a turned on flashlight and her gumball shooter in her clenched hands. "I figured you don't wanna be in the dark."

"Thanks." mumbled Abby, her voice muffled by her body.

"I'll try to go fast." said Maurice. "You sure you're okay?"

"Numbuh Five's fine." insisted Abby. Maurice nodded, and shut the door.

Abby started to panic. The walls seemed to be getting smaller, and a wave of claustrophobia swept through her body. She was _not _fine, and she knew it.

_Calm down. Deep breaths. _

Breathing deeply, Abby closed her eyes and went over the plan in her mind to distract herself.

Maurice had told her that everyday one of the teens was given the job of picking up pastries and coffee for Father and his higher-level minions. Fate had smiled upon Abby, and today was Maurice's turn for doughnut duty.

Maurice would take the pastries and Abby past the guards, security systems, and teenagers. Once inside Father's secret lair, Maurice promised to cause a distraction, while Abby looked for the book.

They would meet back at an as of yet undetermined spot, where Abby would shove herself back into the cart, and Maurice would bring her out.

In theory it should work.

But if there was one thing Abby had learned over the years, it was that you couldn't trust a theory.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a familiar voice.

"Hey Maurice!"

Abby's eyes flew open, and instinctively she clenched her weapon tighter.

"Hey Cree."

"Delivering the food to Father?"

"Yeah. It's my turn today."

"Want me to come with?"

Abby felt her eyes widen. Cree coming along would throw a _major _obstacle into the plan.

"Sure why not?"

Abby scowled. That just made things a lot more difficult.

_Crud. _

* * *

"C'mon Hoagie. Back into the bed."

Hoagie glanced at Kuki blankly, clearly not understanding a word she said.

"_Please _get on the bed?" asked Kuki as she tugged on one of Hoagie's massive arms. Hoagie didn't move.

"Bed?" asked Hoagie, as though he had never heard the word before "What is bed?"

Kuki stamped her foot in frustration. "_Bed. _Hoagie. B-E-D, _bed. _Please get on the bed."

"You pretty." grunted Hoagie. "Hoagie like Kuki."

"_WHAT?_" the outraged cry came from a small boy in an orange hoodie, who had, until recently, been watching with amusement Kuki's attempts to get Hoagie in the bed.

"Calm down Wally." giggled Kuki. "He didn't mean it like _that_."

"Oh." said Wally, red blush smearing across his nose and cheeks. "I knew that."

"N-no…" Wally and Kuki turned to the other bed. Chelsea was laying there, eyes shut tight as she shivered uncontrollably. "S..scary…s-so s-scary…"

"Numbuh 16?" said Wally. "Uh, Chelsea? Are you o-"

"AHHHH!" Chelsea bolted up into a sitting position, causing the covers to fly off the bed, and hit Wally in the face. She sat there, arms around her knees, teeth chattering, eyes darting in every direction.

"S…scary." she muttered over and over. "S-so scary."

"Alright Numbuh 16." said Kuki cheerfully. "I'm coming. Numbuh Four, will you _please _get Hoagie in the bed?"

"Why should I?" grumbled Wally, blush still spread on his cheeks.

"_Please?"_ asked Kuki, widening her eyes, and pulling down her lip into a pout.

"Whateva." mumbled Wally, staring determinedly to Kuki's left. He grabbed Hoagie's forearm and started to tug.

"Thank you Wally!" cried Kuki cheerfully as she wrapped the small boy in a quick but tight hug. The blush became more pronounced on his cheeks.

Skipping cheerfully, Kuki picked up a Rainbow Monkey doctor bag, and headed over to Chelsea.

"I know just what to do to make you feel all better!" said Kuki chirpily as she dug through the bag. She pulled out a short tube, a long tube, and a square case. "Makeover time!"

Chelsea whimpered.

"Don't be afraid." said Kuki kindly. "It won't hurt a bit!"

Soon Kuki was working hard on Chelsea's face while Chelsea whimpered and shook, muttering the word 'scary' over and over under her breath.

Meanwhile, Wally was facing the same difficulties Kuki had in trying to get Hoagie on the bed. Hoagie didn't respond to anything, and he had grown _far _too large to force onto the bed.

"_C'mon _Hoagie!" groaned Wally as he tugged as hard as he could. His grip slipped and he fell on the ground, his bangs in his eyes, and his arms and legs tangled up.

Soft laughter came from the doorway. Wally looked up and glared at the girl standing before him. Becca, looking just as exhausted as before walked in, a small smile playing on her face.

"Need a hand?"

* * *

"Uh, Maurice? Numbuh 5 needs a little help here."

Abby was still in her cramped position inside the cupboard, but at least the door was open. Maurice knelt down to her level.

"Sorry." said Maurice as he wrapped his arm around Abby's forearm. "We gotta hurry. Cree's gonna be back any minute."

Abby groaned. Maurice had gotten Cree to leave by asking her to go get Father. Neither Abby nor Maurice had any idea how much time that gave them, and were understandably anxious.

With a good strong tug, Maurice managed to pull Abby from the cart. Abby lay on the ground, her muscles singing with pain and relief. She stood up, wincing.

"We'll meet in the broom cupboard alright?" said Maurice hurriedly. "Third door on the right. Father's office is the huge door at the end of the hall. Password's 020594. Hurry alright Abs?"

"Thanks." said Abby as she stretched her arms. "Abby'll be fine. See ya later Maurice."

Abby grabbed her gumball shooter and hurried to the door, opening it cautiously. The hallway was empty, so Abby hurried out, careful to shut the door behind her. She crept down the hallway as quietly as she could, not stopping until she reached the end of the hall. She quickly located the keypad and typed in the code, just like Maurice had told her. The door slid open silently, smooth as glass. She hurried inside, glancing around the room. Her eyes traveled from an oriental style rug and landed on Father's desk. There, in plain sight, with no obvious security, was an old brown leather book. Its spine was cracked and peeling; it looked thoroughly worn out.

Abby hurried forward, glancing from left to right as she did so. She wouldn't put it past Father to put some sort of unseeable protection around the book. Soon, she was right in front of the desk. She glanced down at the book. Instantly, memories of losing what she prized most filled her mind, and she knew she had found the right book.

Slowly, as though testing the air, Abby reached towards the book. She hesitated, her hand inches from the cover.

Steeling her courage, Abby lifted the book from the desk. Instantly, loud, red alarms popped out from the desk and began to shriek and wail. Abby yelled in surprise and took a step back, tripping over the rug.

Behind her, the door slid open. Abby turned around, gasping at the figure before her.

"Hey sis." Cree stood before her, dressed for battle; several weapons pointed Abby's way. Behind Cree, Abby could see several other teens and guards. "Nice of you to drop by."

Abby slowly stood up, gripping her weapon tighter; the book clutched in her other hand. It was her against all of them. Suddenly, the teens and guards parted. Cree moved sideways revealing the flaming, furious, Father.

_Crud. _

* * *

"Lee?" Sonya turned her head slightly to look at the operative beside her. Lee and Sonya were leaning casually against a wall, lollipops in their mouths.

"Yeah?" asked Lee, looking up from his yoyo, which he had been playing with absentmindedly.

"Do you think they're telling the truth?"

Lee didn't need to ask to know what she was talking about.

"I don't know." he said simply. Sonya nodded.

"I don't know either." admitted Sonya. "Their story's really unbelievable. But at the same time…after seeing ROSALIE and what it can do… sometimes it almost seems like it _is _real."

"Numbuh 83. Numbuh 84."

"Numbuh 363 sir." said Sonya and Lee.

"Watcha talking about?" asked Harvey curiously.

"_Them_." said Sonya, lowering her voice slightly. Instantly Harvey's face darkened.

"They've got the worst story I've ever heard." ranted Harvey. "I mean, _time travel? _Honestly, how stupid do they think we are, thinking we'd fall for something like _that?_"

"Sector V did." pointed out Lee as he spun his yoyo.

"Yeah." sneered Harvey. "But Sector V also happens to be led by Numbuh 1 _so…"_

"Numbuh 362 believes them too." interrupted Sonya.

"I know." sighed Harvey. "And when I find out what they said to convince her… I mean, she's usually so smart."

"You don't think…" Lee and Harvey both turned to face Sonya. Sonya blushed. "well… y'know… maybe they're telling the truth?"

Both boys froze. Lee looked curious, and Harvey… Harvey just looked mad.

"Don't you _ever_," hissed Harvey "say that again. They're _liars _understand?"

Sonya nodded.

"_Understand?" _

"Yes sir." whispered Sonya. Lee shifted slightly closer to Sonya, giving her emotional support against Harvey.

_"What?"_

"Yes Numbuh 363." said Sonya, shifting slightly closer to Lee.

Harvey stomped off down the hall leaving Lee and Sonya alone again.

"Y'know." said Lee suddenly, turning to face Sonya as he played with his yoyo. "I think you might be right."

* * *

Lily was pacing for what felt like the thousandth time that day. The guilt at telling Abby their secret –even if she hadn't told her _everything _– was eating away at her.

_Numbuh 17 is gonna kill me if he finds out. _

Lily tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she continued her pacing.

"NUMBUH 19!" Lily jumped as Ben's voice rang through the tree house.

Lily stopped her pacing and turned nervously towards the doorway, where a livid Numbuh 17 was standing.

"H-hi." mumbled Lily weakly.

"I know what you did." said Ben menacingly, stomping towards Lily. "How _could _you Numbuh 19? I _told _you…"

"I'm sorry!" wailed Lily. "I'm sorry I told Numbuh 5 who our parents are!"

"…_not _to eat my secret candy stash!" finished Ben angrily. His furious expression faltered. "What?"

"_Candy stash?_" asked Lily incredulously. "You think _I _took your candy? Everyone knows Ross takes it, cause his mom won't let him have any!"

"You _told _our secret to Numbuh 5?" said Ben angrily, ignoring Lily's accusation against Ross. "Beatles, I specifically _told _you, _ordered _you even, not to tell anyone, _and you told Numbuh 5?_"

"Shut up Gilligan!" spat Lily. Lily and Ben glared daggers at each other. They _never _called each other by their last names unless they were really, _really_angry. "You _know _I can't keep secrets! Unlike, _some _people, I have trouble lying!"

"You calling me a liar?" growled Ben. "It's _not _lying when it saves our lives! Honestly Beatles, sometimes you're just as stupid as your dad!"

"Say that again Gilligan." yelled Lily. "I dare you."

"Sometimes you're just as STUPID as your DAD!" said Ben angrily. "Want me to say it again?"

"You little…"

"Guys?"

Lily and Ben quickly turned towards the intruder. Ross shrank backwards and smiled nervously.

"Am I interrupting something?" asked Ross.

Lily and Ben remembered that they were fighting each other, and instantly got back to it, ignoring Ross.

"…AND YOU'RE THE MOST _OBNOXIOUS…"_

"…_CAN'T_ UNDERSTAND HOW SOMEONE LIKE _YOU _GOT TO BE LEADER…"

"…THINK YOU'RE _SO _COOL, HANGING OUT WITH THOSE CRUDDY _TEENS…"_

"…AND IT'S _SO _OBVIOUS YOU HAVE A CRUSH ON CHELSEA…"

"…AND DON'T THINK I DIDN'T SEE YOU MAKING GOO-GOO EYES AT THAT _TEEN_ TWO WEEKS AGO…"

"…HIS _NAME, _YOU IDIOT, IS KYLE, AND IF YOU _ACTUALLY _TOOK THE TIME TO GET TO _KNOW _A TEEN, YOU'D REALIZE THAT SOME OF THEM ARE PRETTY COOL…"

"…_CAN'T _BE FRIENDS WITH THE ENEMY NO MATTER _WHAT _YOUR JOB TITLE IS…"

"…YOU'RE THE BIGGEST _IDIOT _TO WALK THE PLANET…"

"_GUYS!"_

Lily and Ben stopped their argument, an eerie silence falling on the room.

"Boss?" said Ross weakly, watching Lily and Ben glare at each other. "We got a problem."

"Yes we do." growled Ben. "Because _someone _told Numbuh 5 our secret, which, as I warned _someone _earlier, could cause us not to exist anymore!"

"I didn't tell her _everything_." scoffed Lily. "I didn't tell her about the Numbuhless One, or your dad, or Becca's parents…"

"Stop!" yelled Ross, placing himself between the pair. "I've got a different problem."

"Yeah?" asked Ben, turning away from Lily to look at Ross. "What's up Numbuh 15?"

Ross held out an empty bottle. "I'm out of insulin. And I don't have any way to get more."

Ben and Lily locked eyes.

_Crud. _

**

* * *

A/N: Oh. Mai. Gawsh. Is that an… **_**update? **_

**Reading back, I realized I haven't given you a whole lot of background on the kids, except who their parents are and where they're from. If you guys have anything you want to ask about the characters, or the future, or the story line, just send it to me in a PM or a review, and I'll post some of your questions with answers in the authors notes. **

**Thank you for putting up with my sometimes-confusing back-stories and chapters. I keep forgetting that I know more about the kids then you do, and that sometimes something I understand perfectly, isn't as obvious to someone who doesn't know the ending. **

**So seriously, send the questions in, and I'll answer as many as I can :) **

**By the way, check out my friend **_**stoplight-melody's**_** summer contest! It's gonna be really cool, and I think all of you should enter ^^ I know I'm going to! Rules and prizes can be found on her profile! **

**Want to see fan arts of future Sector V? Go to the website below ****for awesome pictures by DarkRosesMoons and theflyingcupcake! **

_http://theflyingredpanda (dot) deviantart (dot) com/favourites/#Stolen-Time-Fanart_

**::((Andra)):: **

_**Codename KND © Mr. Warburton. **_

_**Future Sector V © Andra **_


	9. Chapter 9

Abby had been in better situations.

Her hands gripped the cold metal bars; eyes squinted in an attempt to see through the gloom. She shook the bars experimentally, and sighed when they didn't move. Obviously Father had wasted no expense when it came to the security of his cells.

Slowly Abby slid to the floor. She stared down at her hands, but kept her ears alert, certain that she would soon hear the thud of footsteps, coming to take her away to one or more of Father's horrible machines.

Not only was she stuck in a cell, but the book had been taken from her. She doubted she'd ever get to see it again.

Abby pounded her fist angrily on the floor. She'd failed. The operatives Father had used his weapon on would probably never be cured now.

Sector Q.

Numbuh 16.

_Hoagie. _

Unable to sit still, she stood up and began running her fingers along the wall, hoping to find something helpful.

"There's nothing there."

Abby let out a small yelp as she spun around.

She wasn't alone.

A group of kids, their clothing in varying degrees of shabbiness, were huddled in a corner, barely visible in the dim light.

"Sector Q?" asked Abby hesitantly. They nodded. "What _happened _to you?"

"Father used his new weapon on us." said a small girl in a monotone voice. "Not that it matters, it was bound to happen anyway. Just like it's bound to rain on my birthday."

"Shut up 252." grumbled an even smaller girl. "Nobody wants to hear it. Idiot."

"Sorry about them." sighed a dark-skinned boy with a mop of brown hair. "Ever since Father used his weapon on us, they've been different. We don't understand it. Numbuh 252 is usually so optimistic, and Numbuh 208 is usually so nice."

"Is anything different with you?" asked Abby.

"No motivation." sighed the boy. "I've got no motivation. I'm Numbuh 420 by the way. Leader of Sector Q."

"Numbuh 5." said Abby. "Sector V."

The boy nodded glumly.

"Look," said Abby "Numbuh 5 needs to get out of here, and you need to come too. Isn't there _any _way to get out?"

"Who knows." said Numbuh 252 "Not that it matters, we'd just get caught again right away anyway."

"I thought I told you to shut it." growled Numbuh 208.

"How many of you are there?" asked Abby, trying to see through the darkness.

"Five." said Numbuh 420. "Me, Numbuh 252, Numbuh 208, Numbuh 501, and Numbuh 225.4."

"You guys came here on a reconnaissance mission right?" asked Abby, clutching at straws. "You must've found _someway _to get out."

"We did."

"Then why are you still here?" asked Abby

Numbuh 420 kneeled down and patted the tiled floor. "Gray tile, type 1562. Specially invented by Father's scientists for his jail cells. Virtually indestructible. Underneath these tiles is a series of large tunnels – big enough for kids – used for transporting oxygen and other chemicals into and out of Father's Lab. The tunnels are fairly easy to break into, and once you're in, you're basically home free. There are no guards, no security cameras, and the tunnels come up in the middle of a very large, fake bush 100 yards from here. So really, the only obstacle between us and freedom is these tiles. Numbuh 225.4 figured out how to make a drill type object that could get through the tiles out of stuff guards wouldn't think to take away from kids, like shoelaces and stuff."

"Numbuh 5 doesn't see the problem." said Abby, one eyebrow raised in confusion.

Numbuh 420 stood up and walked over to his team, gently tugging a small boy forward.

"Meet Numbuh 225.4." said Numbuh 420. "Our 2x4 Technology officer. He used to have the best memory of anyone in the KND."

"_Used _to?" asked Abby, noticing the past tense.

"Hi." said the small boy chirpily, a goofy grin stretched across his face. "I'm Derek. Who are you?"

"Numbuh 5." said Abby warily.

Silence fell as the operatives stood facing each other, Abby getting more confused as the seconds passed.

Suddenly Numbuh 225.4 jerked. He extended his hand to Abby again, the goofy grin once again stretched across his face.

"Hi." he said chirpily. "I'm Derek. Who are you?"

Numbuh 420 sighed and led Derek back to the corner.

"Numbuh 225.4 is the only one who knows how to make the drill." said Numbuh 420. "And he can't remember how to. He's still as smart as he ever was, he just can't _remember _anything."

"Do you at least know what you need to make the drill?"

Numbuh 420 shook his head sadly.

"Yeah."

Numbuh 420 and Numbuh 5 quickly fixed their gazes on Numbuh 252.

"Really?" asked Numbuh 420, his mouth slightly open. "Why, in the name of Numbuh Zero, didn't you _tell _us?"

"What's the point?" sighed Numbuh 252. "It's not like we could figure out how to make it anyway."

"But Numbuh 225.4 might." said Abby thoughtfully. "He's still as smart as he used to be right? He just can't remember anything. Numbuh 5 thinks if we give him the stuff he needs, he could reinvent the drill."

"It could work." sighed Numbuh 420. He sat there silently.

"So?" asked Abby.

"So what?" asked Numbuh 420 as he fiddled with the edge of his shirt.

"You gonna lead or what?"

"No motivation remember?" sighed Numbuh 420. "I'm not much of a leader these days. You can be the leader if you want."

"Numbuh 5's not that great a leader herself." said Abby, painful images from the last time she'd tried her hand at leadership flashing for her brain. There was a _reason _she'd handed over leadership of Sector V to Nigel.

"Well _somebody _has to be the leader." said Numbuh 208 snidely.

"Fine." said Abby. "Numbuh 5'll be leader. Numbuh 252, can you get the stuff Numbuh 225.4 needs? Numbuh 5's gonna try to explain to him what he needs to do."

While Numbuh 252 went from person to person, grabbing shoelaces and bracelets, Numbuh 5 gently pulled Numbuh 225.4 away from the rest of his sector.

"Numbuh 225.4?" said Abby "Uh… Derek?"

"How'd you know my name?" asked Numbuh 225.4 "Who are you?"

"Numbuh 5." said Abby. "Listen, uh, Numbuh 5's got a favor to ask you. See this floor? It's…uh…"

"Gray tile, type 1562." said Numbuh 420.

"Exactly." nodded Abby "And, uh, we need to get through it okay? So do you think you can help us by inventing a drill that can get through the tile?"

"Sure." said Numbuh 225.4 cheerfully.

Abby let out a sigh of relief as she motioned for Numbuh 252 to place the items in front of Derek. The boy was soon hard at work, mumbling to himself under his breath as he fiddled with the objects.

"Done!" said the boy cheerfully minutes later. "Though I'm not exactly sure what it's supposed to do… I'm Derek by the way."

Numbuh 225.4 held out his hand to Abby, smiling cheerfully.

"Nice to meet you." sighed Abby as she shook his hand. "Can Numbuh 5 have that drill?"

"Oh is that what this is?" asked Numbuh 225.4 as he looked curiously at the object in his hands. "I was wondering. I'm Derek by the way."

"Numbuh 5 knows." said Abby as she took the drill. She turned it over in her hands until she located the on switch.

"Why're you here anyway?" asked Numbuh 420, speaking above the low whine of the drill.

Abby looked out the cell anxiously, hoping no one could hear the drill.

"Looking for somethin'." mumbled Abby, straining her ears for any sign of approaching footprints.

"Looking for what?"

"A book." sighed Abby. "Numbuh 5 found it too. But they caught me and took the book away."

"Oh, you mean this book?" asked Numbuh 252, holding up a beaten up leather bound book.

Abby's eyes widened as she snatched the book from the girl's hand. She flipped through the pages; her eyebrows traveling up her forehead.

"Where did you get this?" asked Abby in disbelief.

"Numbuh 501 stole it." said Numbuh 252 as she motioned towards a boy curled up on the floor. "He gave it to me right before we got captured. Said it looked important so he'd swiped it and put a different book in its place. Of course, that set off tons of alarms and we had to make a break for it. It's how we got captured. Probably not important though. We're not that lucky."

"This time we are." mumbled Abby happily under her breath. "This time we are."

* * *

"Any luck?" asked Ross anxiously, as he peered over Becca's shoulder. Becca looked up from the stolen book and a very long list of calculations and glared at Ross.

"If I find anything, I'll let you know." snapped Becca before turning back to her work.

"Sorry." said Ross. He took a step away from Becca, and then let out a groan.

"What's wrong?" asked Abby from her position by the wall as she watched Kuki attempt to make the newly rescued Sector Q comfortable.

"Stomach ache." said Ross as he slowly rubbed his belly. "You got any chocolate? I think my blood sugar's getting low."

"Here." said Abby. She tossed a chocolate bar his way.

"Thanks." said Ross as he ripped open the candy bar.

"I'VE GOT IT!" Ross choked on his candy. Gasping and sputtering, he managed to swallow before turning angrily to look at Becca.

"What the _crud _was that f-" He was cut off by a huge hug that made him nearly lose his balance.

"I figured it out!" cried Becca happily as she let go of Ross. "I know how to fix them!"

"You do?" said Abby, a smile starting to spread across her face. "Really?"

Becca nodded happily. "It will take a couple of hours, but by late tonight they should all be cured!"

* * *

Lily's feet dragged as she wandered down the hallways of the tree house. Her hands were stuffed in her pockets, and her face was downcast.

The joy of Becca's success with Hoagie, Chelsea, and the other operatives had faded, leaving Lily feeling tired and stressed. The war was far from over.

They _still _hadn't found a cure for Father's weapon. Sure, they had figured out how to heal individual people, but that wasn't enough. Becca had been quick to point out that their current cure required them to copy the brainwaves of each individual operative – a very time consuming task.

Beside that, it took _ages_ to identify the location of the problem and decide how to best cure it. Each operative was affected differently by the weapon – some lost physical skills, others lost mental capabilities – which meant the weapon could affect almost any part of the brain – which in turn meant that Becca had to meticulously scan the _entire _brain to be sure exactly where the problem was.

Then of course, after they'd found the problem and figured out how to fix it Becca would have to reconfigure the machine, which took at least three hours per operative.

It made Lily's head hurt.

Not only that, but they had the whole 'Ross is out of insulin' problem, which convinced Lily that the universe had something against them. Ross had only told a couple of people about the crisis – Numbuh 362, Numbuh 17, herself, and Numbuh 5. He didn't want to cause a panic.

To top it all off, she and Ben weren't speaking to each other. Not that she _cared, _she was much better off without that name-calling jerk of a leader _thank _you very much, but it was still bad for team morale and cooperation.

"Could things get any worse?" grumbled Lily as she started to turn a corner. She stopped at the sound of voices.

"Hi Kuki." said a male voice, his words laced with a spanish accent.

"Hi Ace." came Kuki's voice cheerfully.

"Listen, Kuki." said Ace, his voice smooth and very suave. Lily growled and curled her fingers into fists. "I was wondering if you wanted to go get ice cream with me?"

"That sound fun!" said Kuki happily. "But are we allowed? What if Numbuh 362 needs our help?"

"She doesn't." said Ace smoothly. "Not until the day after tomorrow anyway. I checked. So tomorrow afternoon then? Say, one o'clock at the ice cream parlor?"

"Okay!" said Kuki before bursting into giggles. Lily bit her tongue to stop herself from screaming in frustration. She wanted to march over there and punch Ace's stupid face in.

"No…" said Lily to herself, as quietly as she could. "Don't do it Beatles. Walk away okay? Walk away. Dad wins in the end. Walk away."

She stood there for a moment, clenching her fists tighter and tighter.

"Screw it." grumbled Lily. "Where's dad? He needs to know about this."

She marched down the hallway, unaware that Kuki and Ace were watching.

Kuki turned towards Ace, her eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

"What's her problem?"

* * *

The next day was a rather pretty day – the sun was shining, the bright blue sky was dotted with fluffy white clouds, while a summer breeze wafted through the air, balancing out the hot rays of the sun. It was the perfect day for an ice cream date.

Assuming, of course, you approved of said ice cream date.

Wally and Lily were crouched behind a bush that had a perfect view of Ace and Kuki enjoying their ice cream. They both had binoculars, and both were wearing scowls.

"What does she see in that loser anyway?" grumbled Wally, pressing the binoculars closer to his eyes.

"I know right?" said Lily as she squinted through her own pair of binoculars. "You're a much better match for Kuki."

"You think so?" asked Wally, he blushed and hastily added, "Not that I care."

"Definitely." said Lily. "Oh crud, the creep's holding her hand now."

"What?" cried Wally, turning his attention back to the couple. Sure enough, Ace was grinning at a blushing Kuki, their hands entwined.

"That's it." growled Wally as he threw his binoculars to the ground.

"Um, Wally?" said Lily, alarmed, "Where are you go-"

Wally crashed through the bushes and ran full speed towards the ice cream parlor.

"-ing?" Lily sighed unhappily. "Way to go Lily." she grumbled. "Now Mom's gonna sock Dad for interrupting her date. Perfect. Nothing like making your parents hate each other before you're even born."

"_WALLABEE BEETLES!" _

Lily sighed again and smacked her forehead with her fist.

"Idiot."

* * *

"Alright Numbuh 1." said Numbuh 362 as Sectors W and Q filed onto the ship behind her. "I'm going to Moonbase with Sector W. They need to grab some supplies, and I need to get some of the paperwork that I know is overflowing on my desk right now. We're also going to drop Sector Q off at their tree house after they tell us about their time in Father's factory. Sector V…er… the _other_ Sector V, except Numbuhs 18 and 19 are on their way to the drug store to steal some insulin for Numbuh 15. I don't actually know where Numbuh 19 is, but Numbuh 18 is in Numbuh 2's workshop trying to find a general cure for Father's weapon. Try not to disturb her okay?"

"Yes sir." said Nigel.

"Your Sector should stay here." said Rachael. "Make sure Becca doesn't get up to anything."

"I though you trusted them." said Nigel, his eyebrows raised.

"I did." said Rachael, stress evident on her face. "I do. But lately… Harvey's been trying to convince me not to trust them, and… he's sort of making sense. I mean, they really have no proof. And with what they're not telling us, and Lily disappearing it's just… I don't know. Just keep an eye on Numbuh 18 okay?"

"No problem." said Nigel. "And Rachael…" he reached out to grab her arm. "We're going to be okay."

"I know." said Numbuh 362. "But thank you."

"Anytime."

* * *

"But he's nice!" protested Kuki as she and Wally marched angrily down the hallway. Lily timidly mentioned needing a bathroom before scurrying away. Neither one seemed to hear her.

"And besides mr. poopie pants, it's none of your business who I go get ice cream with!"

"Yes it is!" said Wally angrily as he threw open a door and marched through. "_Especially _when you're going with a…a… _flyboy _like him!"

"Why do you hate him so much?" growled Kuki as she marched after Wally. "What'd he ever do to you?"

Wally stayed silent, but kept on storming through the tree house.

"Fine then." said Kuki. "Don't talk. See if I care."

"Cruddy sheila."

"Shrimp." said Kuki angrily.

"Girly girl."

"Squirt."

"Shut up." hissed Wally. "I can hear something."

Kuki opened her mouth, probably to make a smart retort, but Wally clamped his hand over her mouth.

"It's not a good idea." came a quiet voice from Hoagie's workshop. "I'll get in huge trouble. Is it really worth the risk?" A sigh. "No, I have to. I have to. Oh man, Ben is gonna _kill _me."

"What's going on in there?" whispered Kuki

"I'm gonna find out." said Wally, running to the door.

"Wally wait!" cried Kuki, sprinting after him.

"Numbuh 18?" yelled Wally "What're ya doing? I know you're in there… _whoa_."

"What is it W-?" Kuki stopped next to Wally, her mouth wide open. Becca was nowhere to be seen. Instead there was a pulsing blue, kid sized oval of swirling blue smoke in the middle of Hoagie's workshop. The smoke was coming from a small box, roughly the size of a TV remote, which was floating about a foot off the ground.

"What the crud?" said Wally. He felt his feet move and looked down. Without noticing, he was being drawn closer and closer to the pulsing orb. He tried to fight it, but it was like pushing against a brick wall. He managed to grab onto a table – apparently the objects in the room weren't being affected like he was.

"Wallllyyyyy!" Wally gasped in horror as he realized the same thing was happening to Kuki – only she wasn't able to grab onto any furniture.

"I'm coming Numbuh 3!" yelled Wally reaching for the alarm box beside him. With a swift tug the alarms started to blare. He let go of the table and let himself slide until he reached a chair that was fairly close to where Kuki was. He grabbed the chair, and then managed to reach out and grab Kuki's hand.

"What's wrong?" yelled Nigel as he burst into the room, Hoagie and Abby right behind him. "What's hap-"

They stood with their mouths open, gaping at the scene before them, unaware that they were slowly being pulled closer to the smoke.

"Grab a hand would ya?" grunted Wally as he fought to keep his grip on both the chair and Kuki's hand. Hoagie grabbed onto Wally, Abby grabbed onto Hoagie, and Nigel held onto Abby with one hand and a table with the other.

"This must be one of Becca's time machines." panted Hoagie as he attempted to pull Wally and Kuki away from the portal.

"But where's Becca?" asked Abby.

"Guys?" said Nigel, fear tainting his voice. "I can't hold on much longer!"

Nigel lost his grip on the table. The operatives screamed as the blue smoke swallowed them up. When the last operative had flown through, the smoke vanished.

The time machine clattered to the floor.

**

* * *

Extra long chapter to make up for the extra long wait!**

**I'm not going to lie; it's getting more and more difficult to find the time and motivation to update this. Don't fret though, I **_**will **_**finish this. I'd like to thank everyone who has ever reviewed this story – your reviews motivate me to push through my writer's block. Thank you. **

**Ugh. I've been sick for the past three days, and it **_**sucks. **_**I'm so sick of being sick. **

**I couldn't find anything about Sector Q except for their numbuhs, so I just made up their personalities. **

**Last chapter I asked you to send in any questions you may have about the story, characters, other stuff, yaddy yadda. I think there's one or two questions that I didn't answer, but worry not, they'll be in next chapter's AN. (And if you came up with any new questions between then and now, feel free to mention them in a review) So here we go….**

**_

* * *

Does Future Sector V have other siblings?_**

Lily: Little brother Naoko (4)

Becca: No.

Ben: Baby brother Aaron (2), and older sister (12) Jamie (Global Tactical Officer – that's why she's not in Sector V)

Chelsea/Ross: Younger sister Natalie (7)

Jamie may or may not appear at some point, but the other siblings probably will never show.

_**Will there be pairings with the future kids? **_

Of course!

Lily-Kyle

Ben-Chelsea

Becca-Ross

However, please remember all of these kids are ten, (except Kyle, he's 13) and there are _crushes _between them, not relationships. (I'll leave it to your imagination to decide who goes out when they're older ^^)

_**What did Nigel do to Rachael? **_

Well you see… uh-uh-uh. Can't tell you that or I'll ruin the story ^^ And by the way, who said it was _Nigel _that did something to Rachael? :3

_**

* * *

Future Sector V © Andra **_

_**Everyone Else © Mr. Warburton **_


	10. Chapter 10

A slight breeze rustled the leaves on the tree branches in the cheerful suburban neighborhood, the birds chirping, back from their winter roosts, as the sunset lit up the night sky with blues and reds and pinks all mixed together with the white of the clouds.

There was a flash of blue, and five children were dumped from the sky, sprawled across the concrete sidewalk in a tangle of limbs.

"Where are we?" groaned Abby, reaching for her hat which had fallen off her head.

"No clue." said Hoagie as he pushed himself upright and straightened his goggles. "It looks exactly like our neighborhood though…except there are a couple more houses."

"Is everyone okay?" asked Nigel, wincing as he moved his knee. He looked down, and groaned when he saw a scrape. "Numbuh 3? Do you have any bandages?"

"Uh-huh." said Kuki she sat up and then fished around in her pocket for a second. She crawled over to Nigel and started fixing up his wound.

"So where's Numbuh 18?" asked Wally as he glanced at the darkening sky and then scanned the street.

"I don't know." said Nigel as he pushed himself into a standing position. "But we better find her quick. We must've accidentally followed her into the future…"

"…Or the past." injected Hoagie as he dusted himself off.

"Whatever." said Nigel. "The point is, we're not in our time anymore, and our only hope of getting back is finding Becca."

"Cheerful." said Hoagie.

"Why would Becca visit a different time period anyway?" said Abby "Abby thinks she didn't just come here to take in the sights."

"It's pretty suspicious." said Nigel. "But we'll worry about that later. Right now we have to find Numbuh 18."

"Should we split up?" asked Kuki. "Wally you're bleeding!"

The operatives glanced at the miniscule cut over the small boy's eye; faint trickles of blood hovering near the opening.

"I'm _fine_." said Wally as Kuki reached into her pocket.

"Nuh-uh." said Kuki as she pulled out a tissue and started to dab at the wound. Wally pulled away, but she persisted.

Abby, Hoagie, and Nigel watched the two struggle for a moment, before continuing the conversation.

"I think splitting up is a bad idea." said Nigel. "We don't know where we are, or what we might have to face."

The other two nodded.

"Where would Becca go?" said Hoagie.

Nigel raised his hands helplessly.

"Let's go that way."

Nigel and Hoagie glanced at Numbuh 5, their eyebrows raised.

"Why that way?" asked Nigel.

Abby took a couple steps forward, then bent down. She picked something up and then walked back, her fist clenched.

"Because." said Abby, opening her fist to reveal a small clip with the word 'Rebecca' printed in swirly pink letters, along with a single MARBLE – which Hoagie instantly recognized as one of the many he had given Becca.

Nigel grinned.

"Works for me."

* * *

"I wonder if Numbuh 788 knows what happened to us."

"Dunno Chels." shrugged Ross. "Hey, Numbuh 17, do you know? Does time pass in the future while we're in the past?"

"Becca would be the one to ask." said Ben. He tossed a bag to Ross. "Here's your insulin by the way. Does anyone know where Becca is?"

"Chelsea," said Lily, her tone bitter. "Tell Gilligan Becca's researching in Numbuh 2's workshop. And that yes, time does indeed pass while we're in the past, meaning Numbuh 788 is probably freaking out. Oh, and tell him he's a jerk too would ya?"

"Chelsea," said Numbuh 17, his voice just as bitter as Lily's "Tell Beatles she should know better than to use last names, especially considering where we are right now."

"Chelsea," hissed Lily "Tell Gilligan he's a hypocrite. And his dad's jokes suck."

"Don't bring my dad into this!" said Ben angrily. "_Especially _when you consider who your dad is!"

"What's that supposed to mean Gilligan?" growled Lily. "And your dad's jokes _do _suck. Then and now!"

"At least my dad's not a idiot like yours is! My dad has a _brain. _Is that too complicated for you to understand? Would you like me to spell it?"

"Would you like me to show you the way to the nerd convention? You and your dad would fit right in!"

"Shut up about my dad will ya? At least I have decent genetics. I mean, look at your mother! Can you say airhead?"

"At least my mom doesn't feel the need to refer to herself in the third person every time she talks!"

"Moron."

"Idiot."

"Drama queen!"

"Jerk!"

"YOU ARE THE MOST ANNOYING PERSON I HAVE _EVER _MET…"

"…HOW YOU BECAME LEADER WITH THAT TEMPER I'LL NEVER UNDERSTAND…"

"…AND THE _INSTANT _WE GET BACK HOME I'M SENDING A REQUEST FOR YOU TO CHANGE SECTORS…"

"…THERE IS NO _WAY _YOU WANT ME TO LEAVE MORE THEN I WANT TO, AT LEAST THEN I WOULDN'T HAVE TO PUT UP WITH YOUR _FACE_…"

"…_REAL _MATURE BEATLES…"

" …_ZIP IT _GILLIGAN BEFORE I _MAKE _YOU…"

"_ENOUGH!" _

Ben and Lily turned to face Ross, panting heavily as they continued to glare at each other.

"This has gone way too far." said Ross dangerously. "You. Are. _Friends. _Your _dads_ are friends. Your _moms_ are friends. You are putting me, and Chelsea, and Becca, in danger by continuing this pointless arguing. What if someone walks in here while you're arguing, or listens at the door? This has to stop."

"Please." said Chelsea. "This is insane. Becca's a nervous wreck already, and your just adding to her problems, and our problems. We're in too deep as it is. We don't need you two making it worse."

Ben and Lily glared at each other some more, before letting out identical sighs.

"I'm sorry Lily." said Ben grudgingly. "You're a really good operative and so are your mom and dad."

"I'm sorry too." said Lily. "You're a good leader, and your parents are pretty cool."

"Now shake." said Ross firmly.

"Truce?" said Lily, one hand extended. Ben smiled and took it.

"Truce."

* * *

"Is it done?"

Tommy yelped and turned around, accidentally knocking a stack of papers to the ground, as he glared at the figure illuminated in his workshop's doorway.

"Don't _do _that Numbuh 363." said Tommy as he leaned down to pick up the fallen papers. "You wanna give me a heart attack?"

"Sorry." said Harvey, his arms crossed and his foot tapping. "Is it done?"

"Yeah." said Tommy, reaching for a medium sized weapon that looked an awful lot like a squirt gun. Only this squirt gun was painted bright blue with yellow stripes and looked decidedly more threatening.

"It was such a stupid idea to make this." grumbled Tommy as he reluctantly placed the weapon into Harvey's hands. "Why did I listen to you?"

* * *

"Becca?" The five operatives of Sector V crept silently forward. "Numbuh 18? Where are you?"

The operatives were standing in front of a building they recognized as Gallagher High School. Dusk surrounded them as they observed the building. Streamers were hung on the railings leading to the doors where a large banner above the door read 'Prom' in large purple letters. Already, several cars were parked in the parking lot, and the faint sound of music could be heard.

"Someone's coming." whispered Abby urgently. The operatives quickly jumped into some nearby shrubbery, peering out curiously.

Six teenagers were walking down the road towards the school hand in hand. Leading the way was a boy of medium height, lightly holding the hand of the slightly shorter girl beside him. The girl's long blonde hair had been curled, with a silver clip holding it back. A small ornamental _R_ hung from a chain on her neck, and her blue strapless dress perfectly matched her eyes, which were sparkling with excitement. The boy was wearing black dress pants, a white dress shirt, and a tie that matched his companion's dress. He had a pair of black sunglasses perched atop his brown buzz-cut, his grey eyes slightly nervous.

Behind them was a tall brown-skinned girl, holding hands with a thin boy; the boy being a couple inches taller. The girl was wearing a dark blue spaghetti strap gown that complemented her complexion, and contrasted nicely with her date's baby blue eyes. She wore no jewelry, and her medium length black hair hung in soft waves around her face. The boy beside her wore a gray cap and yellow glasses perched atop his messy reddish brown hair. Beside that he wore all white, shoes included.

The last couple consisted of a willowy oriental girl and a tall blonde male. The boy's arm was wound around the girl's shoulders, and the girl's arm was resting lightly around the boy's waist. She was wearing an emerald green dress that matched the boy's eyes and her black hair was pulled up into a neat bun, with some strands left down to frame her face. The boy looked slightly uncomfortable in his black dress pants and green shirt. He was by far the most casual of the three boys; his shirt was un-tucked, his blonde hair was slightly tousled, and there was no tie to be seen.

"I still think we shoulda gone to the Monster Truck Rally instead." The blonde boy's voice drifted down to Sector V hiding in the shrubs.

"But I love dances." said the oriental girl, her lips pulling down slightly into a pout. "And remember W-"

"What are you guys doing here?" hissed a voice from behind the operatives. They jumped slightly, and turned to see Becca, her face a mixture of confusion, curiosity, panic, and annoyance.

"It was an accident." said Nigel defensively. "What are _you _doing here?"

"Nothing." said Becca a little too quickly. "Er… that is… nothing you guys would care about."

"Who are they?" asked Wally, jerking a finger towards the teenagers they'd previously been watching. "They look awfully familiar."

"Nobody!" yelled Becca. She clamped a hand over her mouth and then spoke softer. "Um… they're nobody okay? Just a bunch of cruddy teens. Ignore them."

"Where are we?" asked Hoagie

"Your neighborhood." said Becca, one eyebrow raised. "Where else would you be?"

"Better question." said Abby firmly. "What year is it?"

Becca hesitated.

"Not the one you should be in." she said at last. "Let's go."

She started to walk away, then noticed they weren't following her. She rolled her eyes and turned around.

"C'mon guys." grumbled Becca. "Follow me."

"Why should we?" asked Abby suspiciously.

"Because," said Becca as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small black box the size of a remote. "I have a time machine that can get us back to the past… er…. your present. So unless you want to stay here the rest of your life, or you have a time machine of your own…"

"Fair enough." shrugged Nigel. "Lead the way."

The operatives followed Becca willingly into the night. Abby hung back a little, before sighing, and following her friends.

"Abby's got a bad feeling about this."

**

* * *

OH MY GOSH, THIS HAS TO BE MY FASTEST UPDATE EVER! **

**It's cause I love you guys, and all the awesome support you give me :D. Keep sending in those reviews! **

**And now for the one question I didn't get to last chapter: **

_**Can you give us more background on Becca's history with the Numbuhless One?**_

**I'll do my best. I can't tell you **_**everything **_**about them, because I would ruin some major plot points if I did, but I'll try. (Originally, you weren't gonna find out Nigel is the Numbuhless One until much later, but either I'm not subtle enough or you're too smart, cause y'all guessed it right away. So there, I admit it. Nigel is the Numbuhless One.) **

**Rebecca Mackenzie Uno was born April 18 (hence, the numbuh "18") to Nigel and Rachael Uno. Thanks to her dad's job and eventual take-over of Father's position, she has always been pretty well off, and is the richest member of Sector V. After the event with her mother (whose fate I will not say yet) Nigel moved out of his house, and into Father's mansion. It was at this time he shed his old name, and took up the name "Son" because Father had trained him. (Although technically, Nigel is Father's nephew, 'Son' just sounded more intimidating then 'Nephew') Eventually, he changed his name again to "The Numbuhless One." **

**Becca moved into the mansion with Nigel and lived with him for two years before becoming a KND operative. However, after she was assigned to Sector V, she moved the vast majority of her belongings into the tree house, and became a full time resident. The only time she ever saw her dad was during battles or occasionally in the supermarket. **

**Before the…ah…**_**incident **_**with Becca's mother, Nigel was a pretty great dad. Yes, he hated children, but he didn't hate Becca. (Think Mr. Boss in Op. DADDY) He and Rachael showered Becca with love and affection. Nigel was very careful to make sure Becca never found out he secretly tortured children, and as a result for much of her life Becca believed she had the nicest, best dad in all the world. **

**When she joined the KND, Becca was careful never to reveal the identity of her father, instead allowing the vast majority of the KND to believe she had run away from her uncle, who was helping the Numbuhless One. Her story was never questioned, until she joined Sector V. During their first battle against the Numbuhless One, Ben noticed how the Numbuhless One was attacking every kid except Becca, and that Becca refused to so much as **_**look **_**at the Numbuhless One. Confronted by this, Becca broke down and told her real story to her sector, all of who promised to keep her true identity secret. (In the KND files, her last name is listed as Mackenzie.) **

_**

* * *

Codename KND © Mr. Warburton**_

_**Future Sector V © Andra **_


	11. Chapter 11

"Numbuh 18, where the heck are we?"

The operatives looked around, taking in the semi-dark expanse of unbroken land. Tall grass swayed in the light breeze, and the first stars began to shine in the night sky.

"Just a sec Nigel," said Becca absently as she crawled around the field, staring determinedly at the ground.

The operatives squinted, trying to see Becca through the gloom.

"Okay…" said Becca to herself, so quietly that the operatives almost couldn't hear it "About ten feet from here…can't be seen…gotta be close… should work."

"Um, Becca?" said Nigel uncertainly shifting from foot to foot.

"Alright." said Becca, her voice completely serious. "I need you to do something for me."

"What?" asked Nigel, ignoring Abby's quiet, barely concealed, 'no' cough.

"See those rocks over there?" asked Becca pointing to a group of boulders twenty feet or so behind the operatives. "I want you to go behind them and hide. And no matter what happens, I want you to promise you won't interfere or let anybody see you."

"Why?" asked Abby suspiciously "What are you doing?"

"_Please." _said Becca desperately as she glanced at her watch and then scanned the horizon. "If you don't hide…I don't even want to _think _about what would happen. Please, please, please."

"Tell us why first." said Abby firmly.

"If you don't hide," said Becca quickly, "If they see you… it'll mess up the future more then it already is. You might even cease to exist. Just please hide."

"Who's 'they'?" asked Nigel, his arms crossed and foot tapping.

"I'll explain later." said Becca as she started pushing Nigel towards the rocks. "_C'mon_ guys."

"Let's go team." said Nigel breaking away from Becca's grip. The operatives arranged themselves behind the rocks, then noticed Numbuh 18 wasn't with them.

"Numbuh 18!" called Kuki to the receding figure in front of them "Where are you going?"

"Not far." came her faint reply. "Don't worry."

"Too late for that." grumbled Hoagie under his breath. The operatives sat in silence for what felt like hours, before the sounds of voices reached their ears.

"Why did we have to leave prom for this?" said a girl's voice sadly. "There's no one here!"

"I cruddy hate prom anyway." came a male voice.

"Quiet guys." came another male's voice firmly, with a hint of an accent. "They'll get here eventually. And when they do, we'll be ready for them."

"Those voices sound awfully familiar." whispered Hoagie quietly. The others nodded their agreement.

"Abby thinks there's someone here."

"No duh." whispered Nigel "They're right there."

"Numbuh 5 didn't say anything." said Abby, her eyes wide with shock.

"You didn't?" said Hoagie "Then who…"

"There's no one here guys." came a girl's voice speaking in a soothing tone. "Let's not get jumpy."

"Rachael's right." came the accented voice.

"_Rachael?" _mouthed the operatives under their breath, their eyes and mouths wide.

"What the crud is going on around here?" growled Wally. He started to get up, but was quickly pulled down by Numbuh 5.

"_Don't_" hissed Abby. "Becca's right. If we're seen, it could ruin everything."

The operatives looked at her questioningly, but she just put a finger to her lips and didn't elaborate.

"Be quiet everybody!"

"What's up Hoagie?" came the accented male voice.

The hiding operatives gasped again.

"Someone's coming."

Sector V slowly lifted themselves just enough to see over the rocks.

About thirty feet to their right they could faintly make out the outlines of six people – three boys and three girls, all of them dressed in what appeared to be formal wear. Twenty feet to their left they could make out the silhouette of Becca crouched in the weeds, and if they strained their eyes, they could see five figures grouped closely together approaching.

"Who are they?" whispered Kuki

"Well, well, well." came five voices synchronized perfectly. "If it isn't Nigel Uno and his bratty friends. Come to join the party?"

"It's the Delightful Children!" whispered Nigel to the others.

"Yeah," agreed Abby "Only they're not kids anymore…"

The five figures stopped close enough that Sector V could get a fairly decent look at them. They looked exactly like their Delightful Children counterparts – same style clothes and hair – only older.

"They're _teenagers_." whispered Hoagie.

"Give it up delightful dorks." came the accented voice calmly. "We know Father gave the plans for a weapon he wants to build to you. We want them."

"To destroy them, right Nigel?" came the reply. "Honestly, how predictable can you get? Can't you _try _to be more interesting?"

"I'm interesting." grumbled Nigel to himself. Kuki shushed him.

"C'mon ya cruddy cowards." came an Australian voice. "Just hand over the damn plans, and we won't have to kick your asses _again_."

"Temper, temper, Wallabee." came the lazy reply. Slowly the tall female delightful reached into the pocket of her sailor dress and pull out a folded piece of paper. Abby saw Becca stiffen. "If you want the plans, you're going to have to come get them."

"Fine by me!" The operatives watched as one of the six figures broke away and ran towards the Delightful Teens. The teens smirked as the short blond delightful reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out an object consisting of nothing more than a blue box and a large red button.

"_Look at Becca!" _

Sector V turned to face the direction Abby was pointing. Becca had thrown herself from the weeds and was currently wrestling with the delightful teens.

"What are you doing? Stop this you stupid kid!" Together the five teens managed to throw Becca back into the grass. With a burst of maniacal laughter they pressed the red button…

… and disappeared.

"Where'd they go?"

"Well, _that _didn't go as planned."

"Who was that kid?"

"Where is she?"

"Maybe we were just seeing things?"

"What's going on?"

"Is everyone okay?"

Sector V watched, their mouths open, as the teens gathered themselves up and left. After they were sure they were gone, the operatives cautiously wandered out from behind the rock.

"Becca?" The operatives tiptoed to where Becca was lying on the grass, tears streaming down her face.

"Numbuh 18? Are you okay? Are you hurt?" asked Nigel.

"Not physically." sniffed Becca as she pushed herself into a sitting position. "But emotionally, I've been better."

"Why did you attack them?" asked Hoagie "I thought we were supposed to stay hidden."

"None of your business!" snapped Becca, tears continuing to stream down her face. "Doesn't matter. Let's get back to your time okay?"

She didn't wait for them to answer. Reaching into her pocket, she grabbed her time portal and punched at the buttons. The familiar shimmering vortex of smoke began to emit from the machine, lighting up the field like a miniature sun.

"Go." said Becca, shoving the operatives in as fast as she could. Lifting her foot, she stomped as hard as she could on the time machine before diving into the portal.

The smoke disappeared as the time portal's ruined remains clattered to the ground.

* * *

"Where have you _been?_" Nigel gulped as Rachael glared at him.

"It was only a couple of hours…" said Nigel weakly.

"Six, Numbuh 1, _six _hours where I didn't know where your sector was! _Where were you?" _

Becca quietly crept out of the room, leaving Sector V to deal with the irritated Soopreme Leader.

"Of _course _that wouldn't work." grumbled Becca to herself as she paced the halls of the tree house. "Idiot." Tears started to pool in her eyes.

"First Jack, then the stupid battle, now _this." _Becca groaned as she swiped away the tears, only to have more stream down her cheeks. "Can't I do anything right?"

Becca turned into the main room, hoping to find Lily – she needed to talk to somebody. She glanced in, and noticed the room was empty except for Ross, who was engrossed in a comic book.

"Good enough." mumbled Becca to herself. She hesitated, giving her eyes one last swipe, then stepped into the room.

"Ross?" said Becca timidly. Ross glanced at Becca, his eyebrows shooting up as he took in her tear stained cheeks and red eyes. "I...I have to tell you something."

"What's up?" said Ross with concern.

"You – you know Jack right?"

"Of course." said Ross sadly. "He was our best spy. They're training me to take his place remember?"

"Iknowwhathappenedtohim."

"What?" said Ross. "I didn't get that."

Becca took a deep breath.

"_I know what happened to him." _

Ross's jaw dropped to the floor as his blue eyes widened with shock. It took him a moment to recover his voice.

"How could you _possibly _know that?"

Becca took a deep breath and mumbled something under her breath.

"Huh?"

"Because…" Becca whimpered and hid her head in her hands. "Because it's my fault."

"_What did you do?" _

Becca burst into tears.

"H-he… J-Jack… h-he was j-just trying t-to _help _me." whispered Becca. "I-I t-thought, that, t-that my time portal w-was ready, a-and I needed someone to t-test it on, a-and he volunteered."

"So when he was gone for five weeks…"

"He was stuck sometime in the nineteenth century." admitted Becca. "1845, I think. It took me f-forever to figure out w-where he'd gone, a-and by the time I found him it- it was too late. His mind – it couldn't handle it. It l-literally drove h-him insane."

"And the super top secret mission he was on?"

"T-totally made up." said Becca in a small voice. "I h-hacked into t-the central computer a-and m-made up a fake m-mission."

"Why Becca?" asked Ross, throwing his arms up. "Why him?"

Becca stayed silent, twisting her fingers, her eyes focused on her shoes.

"You didn't just need him to test the time portal did you?" said Ross; realization dawning as he slowly lowered his hands back to his side. "You sent him to find something for you."

Becca nodded.

"But what would…" Ross gasped, then glared at Becca. "You didn't."

Becca's sobs increased.

"He wasn't supposed to go that far back in time was he?" said Ross "That's what messed him up… he was expecting to go back only a couple of years and ended going back hundreds… Becca how _could_ you?"

"I'm sorry!" cried Becca her hands jumping to grab strands of her hair. "I didn't know this would happen! I messed up, I _know _that, Ross!"

Ross felt his anger melt. She looked so miserable, her hair now a mess, her cheeks red and streaked with tears, her bottom lip trembling.

"Hey," said Ross soothingly, opening his arms to give Becca a hug. "I'm sorry Numbuh 18. I didn't mean to yell."

"I deserve it." mumbled Becca into his shirt.

"Nah." said Ross firmly. "You've had enough crud to last a lifetime. You don't need me giving you more."

"Thanks." sighed Becca. There was a cough from the doorway, and the two sprang apart.

"Am I interrupting something?" asked Ben, a smug grin on his face as his eyes danced with laughter.

"Not really." said Becca, as she and Ross turned bright red. "I'm gonna – uh – go… work on, um, stuff. Yeah. I've got some um, stuff to do. Thanks again R- I mean, Numbuh 15."

"No problem." mumbled Ross as he sat down in his chair and hid his face behind his comic book. Becca all but sprinted out of the room.

Ben chuckled as he plopped casually into the seat next to Ross.

"Thought you told me you didn't like Becca like that." said Ben teasingly, the grin still firmly plastered to his face. "I thought we were friends Ross?"

"Not for long." grumbled Ross.

"Aw, c'mon." laughed Ben. "You know, you two make a _lovely _couple."

"Shut it Numbuh 17." mumbled Ross from behind his comic book, his cheeks and ears tinged red.

"Fine." said Ben "But can I ask one last question? When you and Becca get married can I be best man?"

The grin never left Ben's face even as the comic book sailed past his head.

* * *

"…_highly _irresponsible." huffed Rachael, finishing her rant as Sector V stared, ashamed, at the ground. "I expected better from you."

"We're sorry." mumbled Nigel. The rest of his team nodded.

Rachael stared sternly at them before sighing.

"Just don't let it happen again, okay?" said Rachael. The operatives nodded. "Alright. Wait here. I have to go message Sectors W and Q and make sure they're settled back into their tree houses."

Rachael marched out of the room, leaving Sector V standing silently.

"This is _so _confusing." groaned Hoagie. "Abby, what was going _on _back there?"

"You mean in the future?" said Abby calmly, although her hands twitched at the word 'future'. Hoagie nodded. "Abby doesn't really know for sure."

"But you did figure out why Numbuh 18 made us hide." said Nigel, his arms crossed against his chest. "So?"

"You didn't realize?" said Abby with a small half-smile. "That was us. Those teenagers we saw going to prom? The ones who confronted the Delightful childr- er… teens? That was us as teenagers."

"_What?" _said Nigel in disbelief, the other operatives' faces displaying similar shock.

"It makes sense." nodded Abby. "That's why Numbuh 18 made us hide. If we had shown ourselves, Abby's willing to bet teenage us would've thought we were some kinda trick from the Delightful Teens, and attacked."

"So what?" growled Wally. "I could crush their teenage guts any day!"

"That's not the point, Wally." groaned Abby. "You can't just go around beating up your future self."

"Not that this isn't fascinating, but can we move on?"

The operatives yelped in shock, snapping their heads back and forth as they searched for the source of the voice.

"Why hello there." came the voice – male, the faintest hint of an accent in his tone. Sector V whipped around quickly, weapons drawn as they faced the farthest corner of the room, where they could see a black shadowed man, who looked similar, yet different from Father. They had the same black silhouetted body and flaming yellow eyes, but this man was a bit shorter, the silhouette of his hair was much more unruly, and his face was more oval shaped. "I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting yet."

"Who are you?" asked Nigel rudely, his weapon pointed firmly at the intruder. "Some bad impersonator of Father perhaps?"

"Nigel Uno." said the figure with a wide grin. "Can it really be you? How absolutely fascinating."

"How do you know who I am?" asked Nigel suspiciously. The figure chuckled.

"Wouldn't want to spoil the surprise." he said with a wink. "You'll find out soon enough."

"Guys?" came Lily's voice as she walked around the corner "What's going –" Her sentence ended with a gasp, followed by a blur of motion as she drew her weapon and pointed it at the figure.

"_You._" she said dangerously. "What the _crud _are you doing here?"

"Hello Lily." said the trespasser coldly.

"You know him?" said Abby as she tightened her grip on her weapon. Lily jerked her head yes.

"Meet the Numbuhless One." said Lily calmly. The other operatives gasped and almost lowered their weapons, but caught themselves just in time.

"Where are the rest of your little friends?" said the Numbuhless One, ignoring all the operatives except Lily.

"Not here." said Lily angrily.

"Obviously." said the figure, his eyes rolling. "I need a word with Rebecca. I would like you to call for her."

Lily's grip on her weapon tightened.

"I don't think so."

"Have it your way then." shrugged the Numbuhless One. "Of course, I don't take disobedience, but such I'm such a nice person, I'll offer you a deal. You can call for your friends, or I can fry one of these operatives. The one with the pretty black hair like yours perhaps?"

"Don't you dare touch her." said Lily fiercely, as Sector V formed a protective circle around Kuki.

"Call for Becca." said the Numbuhless One. "Three…"

His hands lit up.

"Two…"

A ball of fire appeared, spinning and crackling above Kuki's head. The operatives screamed and try to move out from under it, but the fireball just followed them. They shot their weapons at it, but it just got bigger. They tried shooting the Numbuhless One, but a wall of clear blue flame shot up, incinerating anything that tried to penetrate it.

"One…"

"B-Becca!" called Lily loudly, her voice trembling.

"Good girl." said the Numbuhless One. All the fire except for the ring of blue flames around himself extinguished.

"Lily?" came Becca's voice, as the footfalls of several pairs of feet thudded down the hall. "Lily, are you okay…?"

Becca, Ben, Chelsea, and Ross stood frozen in the doorway, their mouths opened in shock. After a few seconds of gaping they regained their senses and joined the group of operatives, weapons pointed at the Numbuhless One.

"How the crud did you get here?" asked Ben, his gaze straying back to Becca who looked like she was about to pass out.

"Time portal of course." said the Numbuhless One with a grin. "Worked pretty well, although the height of the portal could stand some re-working, but that's merely a detail."

"How?" said Becca weakly. "You weren't supposed to be able to use it."

"Took a little time to get it right." shrugged the Numbuhless One "That was very clever of you Rebecca, installing an anti-adult security into it. The machine kept dumping us into the wrong time period, but we got here in the end. Luckily Big Sister managed to figure out a way to disable the anti-adult security, so I won't have any trouble when I decide to go home."

"You can't go home." said Chelsea. "The time portal can't travel with us, so you don't have one anymore."

"Can't it?" said the Numbuhless One, an evil grin stretched across his face as he dangled a black box before the surprised operatives. "While we were visiting your little tree house, I took the liberty of looking through the workshop – excellent designs by the way Rebecca, very excellent, I look forward to trying out the one that can stun an operative for five minutes. Really good work, my dear."

"Get to the point." sneered Ben, although there was concern in his eyes. The Numbuhless One going through their stuff could only make things worse for them.

"Where was I?" smirked the Numbuhless One. "Ah yes. I managed to find your blueprints for the time machine – really Rebecca dear, next time use a better defense system hmm? – and noticed that there was a teeny tiny mistake in the calculations, which is the whole reason the time portal can't travel with you – make a note of that dear, wouldn't want you to forget to change it – and with the help of the Toy Maker managed to fix the time machine right up, so that it teleports with you."

"Where _is _the rest of the council?" asked Ross bitingly. "Usually you're too scared to go anywhere alone."

The Numbuhless One twitched. "I will _not_," he said, his voice icy. "be spoken to like that." He raised his arms, but stopped as Becca jumped in front of Ross. Her eyes bore into him, a silent communication passing between them.

"Fine. You aren't worth the effort." said the Numbuhless One, his gaze resting on Becca for a second before looking away. "Besides, I'd hate for even one of you to be missing the events I have in store. As for the council – Big Brother and Big Sister will be here momentarily. I just sent them on a little… _errand_ for me."

At that moment an explosion sounded above them, as a section of the ceiling crashed down leaving a gaping hole. Through this hole came two flying robots, a giant black bag held between them. One robot was fashioned in the shape of a girl, the other a boy. They landed gracefully beside the Numbuhless One, evil smirks forming across their metal skulls.

"So many children." said the girl robot, her voice slightly robotic.

"Operatives." smirked the Numbuhless One. "Meet Big Brother and Big Sister."

"Sup punks?" said Big Brother as he pounded his fist into the palm of his hand. "Who wants a wedgie, huh?"

"Not now." said the Numbuhless One with a wave of his hand. "I have something different in store for them."

"Oh really?" huffed Chelsea "I'm soooo scared."

"You should be." said the Numbuhless One calmly. "Well, at least, Rebecca should be."

"And why's that?" asked Becca defiantly.

The Numbuhless One merely grinned, then motioned to Big Brother. Big Brother grinned as he thrust his hand into the bag and pulled out a struggling Rachael.

"Let me _go _you oversized piece of junk! I swear, I'm going to dismember you _piece by piece _if you don't let me go _now!" _

"Charming." muttered Big Sister as she helped Big Brother hold Rachael back. The other operatives gasped.

"Let her _go." _growled Becca.

"You know what I want Rebecca." said the Numbuhless One. "I'll be at the house when you decide to give it to me. Until then, I'm afraid this particular Soopreme Leader is on a… ah… _extended _leave of absence."

With a cruel chuckle, the Numbuhless One took out his time portal and started punching at the buttons. As the time portal swirled into existence, the Numbuhless One locked eyes with Becca, a smirk playing across his lips.

"Please don't try any idiotic rescue attempts." said the man calmly. Behind him, Big Brother and Sister, with Rachael held between them, stepped into the portal. "You should know better then anyone the impossibility of rescue. I'll give you twenty-four hours, dear. If you haven't come with what I want…"

He drew his finger across his neck.

"…I'm afraid both your time and Rachael's left on this earth will be rather short."

And with that ominous threat he stepped through the portal and vanished.

"_Where is he taking Rachael?" _growled Nigel, advancing on Becca.

"His mansion." sighed Becca. "Father's mansion in our time."

"And what," hissed Nigel "exactly, does he want?"

"My cooperation." said Becca calmly, although panic was written across her face. "He wants me to help him destroy the KND."

"And I thought you said," growled Nigel dangerously. "That you're the only one who knows how to build a time machine?"

"Time portal." said Becca as she nodded hesitantly.

"Then how," said Nigel. "did your so-called worst enemy get his hands on a time portal?"

"He must've found it. We came from a big battle; I didn't have any choice but to leave it behind." said Becca "Numbuh 1, I swear, I didn't give it to him!"

"Why should I believe you?" yelled Nigel, any trace of calmness evaporating. "Ever since you guys have come here, things just keep getting worse! He knew who I was, Becca! How could he have known that unless you told him? He's never seen me, and I've never seen him in my life! Care to explain that?"

Sector V stood there awkwardly, shuffling back and forth as they mumbled to each other under their breath. Becca turned and shot a pleading look towards Ben.

"Listen." said Ben firmly as he stepped in front of Becca. "We can't prove Becca's innocence, but I've known Becca for a long time. Take my word for it, she would _never _do that."

"Would she?" said Chelsea quietly, her eyes wide. "I mean, oh crud, I feel horrible… but… she's…y'know…never really _helped _us fight the Numbuhless One. She's always sort of… stayed out of it."

"Are you out of your _mind _Chelsea?" said Ross, his face red with anger, and his hands balled into fists. "Becca wouldn't do that!"

"It is kind of suspicious." whispered Chelsea, tears welling up in her eyes. She lifted a hand and forced them off her face. "She didn't tell Ben about the time portal not being able to travel with us, and then there was the… y'know the…."

"Don't you _dare _talk about that!" cried Becca, tears streaming down her face. "That was the second worst day in my entire life. Don't you remember what he _did _to me? Why the crud would I want to help him?"

"You know _exactly _why you might want to help him." said Chelsea seriously. "He could give you part of your old life back."

"Yeah," said Becca bitingly, "because _he _was the one to take it away!"

"Becca…" whispered Lily, her eyes wide with fear. "It's not true is it?"

"What's not true?" said Becca angrily. "That I'm working for the Numbuhless One? Of _course _it's not true! I thought you guys knew me better than that!"

"We don't know you at all." butted in Nigel, his arms crossed. "And yet you know an awful lot about us. All of you. How do we know all of you aren't working for Father or the Numbuhless One?"

"You don't." said Ben "But if you want Rachael back, you have no choice but to trust us."

Nigel glared at the operatives for a moment more, before jerking his head in consent.

"Fine." said Nigel. "Numbuh 3, go find Ace. Ask him if he'll guard the tree house for us while we're gone."

"I'll do it." said Lily quickly, running out the door before anyone could object.

"Whatever." said Nigel. "In that case, Numbuh 3 go gather up as many medical supplies as you can carry. Numbuh 4, go with her. Numbuh 5, contact Moonbase and inform Numbuh 86 about Numbuh 362's disappearance. Try not to cause a panic okay?"

"What about Sector W?" asked Abby as she headed towards the door.

"Fine." grumbled Nigel. "Tell them too. But make sure Harvey doesn't do anything stupid, and they are _definitely _not coming with us. Numbuh 2, go get extra weapons and communicators."

"Numbuh 18." said Ben "Go with Numbuh 2 okay? Gather up all the plans and calculations you made on Father's weapon, and don't forget to disassemble that machine. Numbuh 15 go help her."

"What about me boss?" asked Chelsea.

"Go find Numbuh 3 and ask her for some medical supplies." said Ben. "If both of our medics carry supplies we should be okay."

Chelsea left, leaving the two leaders of Sector V in an awkward silence. Nigel continued to glare at Ben, his fists clenching and unclenching. Ben met his gaze calmly.

"You really believe her then?" asked Nigel. "Even with all the evidence stacked against her?"

"You don't know her." said Ben firmly. "I do. Becca would never betray the KND."

"Prove it." said Nigel as he took a step forward. Ben sighed.

"I can't." said Ben. "You're just going to have to trust me."

"Do we have a choice?" grumbled Nigel as he started to pace.

"No." said Ben softly. "Not really."

"Wonderful." grumbled Nigel. "What the crud have we gotten ourselves into?"

**

* * *

A/N: Oh, and just an FYI my dear readers, Becca's accident with the spy is **_**not **_**her 'big mistake.' And the Numbuhless One, of course, does not remember his time as a KND operative (although he knew he once was one), and as an adult he would've seen pictures of himself and Rachael as kids, hence the reason he knew who Nigel and Rachael were, but no one else. (The incident with Kuki was just a lucky chance on his part. He is unaware that Kuki is Lily's mother). **

**Alrighty then. I got a couple more questions via reviews (keep on sending them in if you want, I adore answering these!), so here we go.**

**

* * *

((THE REASONING BEHIND FUTURE SECTOR V's NUMBUHS:)) **

_**Ross**_** chose the numbuh 15 because it's the jersey number of his all time favorite basketball player. **

_**Chelsea**_** chose the numbuh 16 because her lucky number is 7, but when she first joined the KND the numbuh 7 was already in use. So she chose 16 instead because 1+6=7 **

_**Ben **_**picked the numbuh 17 in honor of his parents (2+5=7). However, as previously mentioned, 7 was already taken, so he just threw a one in front of it, resulting in 17. **

_**Becca **_**chose numbuh 18, because she was born April 18. **

_**Lily **_**chose numbuh 19, because she became a KND operative on January 9****th**** (1/9). **

**That's the reason the operatives picked those numbuhs. The reason **_**I **_**picked those numbuhs is because I wanted them to all be numerically ordered to make it for easier for you to remember them, and because I didn't want to make it obvious who their parents were by naming them "Numbuh 34" or "Numbuh 3621" (Not that it's bad to do that – I just didn't want to.)**

**

* * *

((And one of you lovely reviewers asked me to tell you a bit more about Lily's crush, Kyle.))**

**Kyle St. Martin is a thirteen-year-old ex-KND operative who is a member of TEENZ. He does not, however, have any memory of the KND, because the teens recruited him **_**after **_**his decommissioning. He is the newest official Kid-Teen diplomat for the TEENZ (there are anywhere from 1-5 in any given place. In Sector V and W's region there are three) and, because of this, meets with Lily frequently. Kyle is a little unsure of himself, as he's going through that 'awkward stage' that all teenagers go through, but despite being a little bit clueless at times, he's funny, semi-intelligent, and overall a very sweet boy. He is very laid back and a devote pacifist. He barely knows how to use a weapon and is pretty scrawny, so he's not much good in a fist fight, causing him to be very devoted in his quest to have the KND and TEENZ work together as a team. He really doesn't have much against the KND, and only joined the TEENZ in the first place because his best friend convinced him to. (Although if forced to pick, he would always choose the TEENZ over the KND. He's very loyal that way.) He does not have a crush on Lily, (C'mon guys, she's **_**ten years old. **_**What self-respecting teenage boy has a crush on a ten year old?) He views her as a little sister that he sometimes argues with. **

**Thanks for reading! :D**

_**

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Codename KND © Mr. Warburton**_

_**Future Sector V © Andra **_


	12. Chapter 12

The future looked nothing like they had imagined.

In fact, the future didn't look that much different. The same houses lined the streets, children played hopscotch on the sidewalk and rode bikes up and down the streets yelling happily, and the same smell of bonfire filled the summer air.

Even their tree house didn't seem to have changed a bit. From the outside the tree house appeared untouched, right down to the painted numbers on the sides.

When they asked why the operatives hadn't replaced the numbers 1-5 with 15-19, the future operatives just shrugged.

"Not worth the effort." said Ben, and the topic was dropped.

Once in the tree house, the other operatives wandered off to different parts of the tree house, leaving Becca to lead Sector V to the main room and make them as comfortable as circumstances would permit.

Sector V was dying to get the rescue mission going, but, as Becca pointed out, if they tried to rescue Rachael right away, they'd be doing exactly what the Numbuhless One expected them to do, and thus playing right into his hands. It was with great reluctance that Sector V settled themselves in the main room, uneasily taking in the surroundings – so similar, yet so different from theirs.

"Um..." said Hoagie, interrupting the awkward silence that had fallen on the operatives. "The future's not as um, terrible looking as I thought it'd be."

"We've gotten better at covering our tracks." muttered Becca ominously. "The future might not look as bad as we told you it is, but trust us, it's worse."

"That's...cheerful." muttered Hoagie as Becca headed towards the door.

"I'll be in my workshop." said Becca "Please make yourself at home."

The door clicked shut behind her, the silence once again descending over the room.

* * *

"We need to talk."

Chelsea flinched as she glanced up from her book. Ross was standing in her doorway, his arms crossed against his chest, a serious expression on his face.

"Whatever." said Chelsea focusing her eyes back on the book, her cheeks uncharacteristically red. Her bed creaked as Ross settled himself next to her, his legs swinging over the sides. They sat in silence, Ross's legs swinging back and forth, Chelsea's grip on the book getting tighter and tighter, until at last she let out a huff and tossed the book to the floor.

"I'm not sorry." said Chelsea, arms across her chest. Ross nodded.

"Didn't expect you to be."

"Then why are you here?" asked Chelsea. Ross sighed.

"I just want to know why you don't trust Becca." shrugged Ross. "Ever since you met her, you've had something against her."

"Wh..." mumbled Chelsea, slack-jawed. "How did you know that?"

"We're _twins _Chels." said Ross with a grin. "You might be fooling everyone else, but you can't fool me. So c'mon, tell me. What about Becca makes her so untrustworthy?"

"You promise not to tell anyone?"

"Swear on my lucky green yo-yo." nodded Ross, pulling the florescent green yo-yo from his pocket and dropping it into her lap. Chelsea's fingers closed around the yo-yo, tracing the familiar _L+S _carving with her finger.

"You remember the day we met Numbuh 18, right?" said Chelsea.

"Sure." said Ross. "It was the first day of arctic training. Me and you and Ben and Lily were all put into a group, because we were all going to be assigned to the same Sector if we graduated."

"Right." nodded Chelsea. "We were already friends with Lily and Ben before arctic training. We'd never met Becca before."

"I guess." said Ross, his brow furrowed. "Then we did a bunch of initiation stuff, and started training. So?"

"Halfway through training," said Chelsea seriously. "We were told to stop. Remember why?"

"Because we were getting another member."

"Exactly." nodded Chelsea. "And who was that new member?"

"Becca." shrugged Ross. "I don't get where you're going with this."

"Something about Becca joining our training group was special." said Chelsea "Remember?"

"Sure." said Ross. "She was the first KND member to be exempted from both the Sector-Cadet Act and the Sixth Rule of the KND."

"Becca was originally assigned to Sector W," nodded Chelsea. "Because the Sixth Rule of the KND says that what Sector you're in is determined by where you live, which in turn means she was supposed to be assigned to the group of operatives who were going to become Sector W because of the Sector-Cadet Act. But then, without any warning, and on the _first day _of Cadet training, she got switched into Sector V. Do you know why?"

"Of course not." said Ross. "They said the reason was classified."

"I don't believe that." said Chelsea softly. "I don't think there ever _was _an official reason."

"Then why do you think she was switched?" asked Ross curiously.

Chelsea took a deep breath, her grip on the yo-yo tightening.

"I think," she mumbled, eyes focused on her hands. "I think Becca hacked into the KND computer and switched herself to Sector V."

"That young?" asked Ross. "Why would she do that?"

"She's brilliant." shrugged Chelsea. "If anyone could get away with it, Becca could. As for why she'd do that...what villain lives just down the lane from Sector V's tree house?"

"The Numbuhless One." said Ross in disbelief. "You think Becca switched herself to Sector V in order to get closer to her dad? So that she could be in a better position to help him?"

"From the day she told us who she was." whispered Chelsea.

"I don't believe it." said Ross.

"You don't or you won't?" asked Chelsea seriously. Ross hung his head and sighed, his entire body deflating.

"Won't." admitted Ross. "I don't want to believe it."

Chelsea simply nodded.

Ross got off the bed and headed towards the door, thoughts whirling.

_Won't Won't Won't Won't Won't. _

* * *

Unable to bear just sitting and waiting, Sector V has dispersed to explore the tree house that they knew by heart, yet didn't recognize at all. Kuki had skipped off in search of Chelsea in order to borrow some sort of Rainbow Monkey something or other, Nigel and Ben were in deep discussion over the details of the rescue plan, Lily was kicking Wally's butt at video games, and Ross and Abby were discussing the fine points of espionage.

His friends otherwise occupied, Hoagie had wandered into Becca's workshop where the two soon began eagerly discussing the many inventions littered on the floor.

"So how does it work?" asked Hoagie as he turned the time machine over in his hands. Becca's face lit up, happy to have another inventor to explain her projects to.

"Teleportation." said Becca. "You see, I can't tell you how, but I found a subatomic formula that when used correctly lets you take the concept of teleportation and apply it to time travel. So far it's still pretty basic – it only allows you to travel to different years, not different days or months, but I'm working on that."

"_Woah._" said Hoagie "You guys can _teleport?" _

"Sure." said Becca. "It's so simple really. It's just a matter of rearranging the atoms long enough to be zapped to your destination and then reassembled. Of course, teleportation is strictly KND use only. It's not like people are going around in hover cars and space suits. The future's not _that _different, and the adults are nowhere _near _as technologically advanced as we are. So I just applied the already known technology towards time travel. It took me _forever_ – nine months to be exact. Nine months of no sleep and microwave burritos."

"So why don't you guys just, I dunno," shrugged Hoagie. "teleport into wherever Rachael is, and then teleport out?"

"It doesn't work that way." shrugged Becca. "There needs to be a receiver wherever it is we want to go. I don't think the Numbuhless One would be on board with a plan to build a receiver in his basement."

"So how does time travel work then?" asked Hoagie. "I mean, it's not like there's these receiver watchamacallits in the past...right?"

"Right." shrugged Becca. "But time travel is a little bit different. In teleportation _your _atoms are rearranged. In time travel the atoms in the _space-time continuum_ are rearranged. No receiver required."

"Can I see the teleportation machine?" asked Hoagie eagerly, his eyes darting around the workshop.

"I guess." shrugged Becca. She led Hoagie out of the workshop, down the hall, and into a room the size of a small closet. Hoagie peered in eagerly, only to see a simple showerhead attached to the back wall, and a simple wood desk to the right of the door with an old fashioned computer sitting squarely in the center. Aside from that, the room was empty. The walls were painted a light tan, and oddly enough – the floor was rubber.

"Is this it?" asked Hoagie disappointedly.

"Yeah." said Becca proudly she pointed to the showerhead. "_That _is the receiver."

"So how does it work?" asked Hoagie, scanning the room for any details he might've missed, to no avail.

"Can't tell you." shrugged Becca. "I don't want to tempt you into trying to make your own. I _will _tell you that underneath this floor there is a generator capable of producing the massive amounts of energy we need to teleport, which is why the floor is rubber. Rubber is a horrible electricity conductor, which protects us from fatal electric shocks while the generator is in use."

"Can you at least _show _me what it looks like to teleport?"

Becca hesitated and began shaking her head no, when the computer beeped.

"Hmm." said Becca as she glanced at the screen. "I guess it wouldn't hurt. Numbuh 25 is requesting clearance. You can watch, but you need to hide under the desk okay?"

"Why?" asked Hoagie in confusion.

"Because," said Becca, her hand jumping to her hair "we're not supposed to let outside operatives in here unless they're transporting. Numbuh 25 would get awfully mad if she knew I'd let you in."

"Makes sense." shrugged Hoagie wedging himself under the desk, far too excited to argue. By peeking through the two-inch space between the floor and the desk, Hoagie was able to get a decent view of the receiver.

"First I need to approve the request." said Becca, narrating her actions for Hoagie's benefit. Hoagie shifted, trying to get into a comfier position. "Then I activate the generator."

A loud hum filled the room, and the floor vibrated.

"Calibrating energy levels." mumbled Becca, the keyboard clacking under her experienced fingers. "Adjusting for height and weight factors. Calculating atom displacement. Activating signal."

By now the showerhead was glowing florescent blue, the whine of the generator growing steadily. Drips of blue began to flow from the showerhead.

"Where did the water come from?" asked Hoagie. Becca simply shushed him.

Hoagie looked back at the blue, and realized it wasn't acting the way water was supposed to. It zigzagged on its way towards the floor; sometimes shooting back up for a moment before continuing it's descent.

"It's not water," said Hoagie in awe, craning his neck to look up at Becca "it's _light._"

Becca winked, then placed a finger against her lips.

The light gathered a couple of inches from the floor, growing higher and higher until it was a little more then four feet tall. The light contracted and grew so blindingly bright that Hoagie had to close his eyes. When he opened them again the light was gone, leaving behind an operative in its place.

The operative was a light brown female. Her coal black hair was pulled back into two braids, and her brown eyes radiated seriousness and authority. She was wearing blue jean shorts, faded blue sneakers, and a tie-dye shirt with the number 25 stamped on the back in white. A red cap was placed jauntily on her head and a pair of black-rimmed glasses rested on her nose.

"You have a lot of explaining to do." said the girl sternly as she fixed a glare on Becca. "Moonbase has had absolutelyno idea where you've been, not to mention the amount of work I had to do covering your backs so your parents wouldn't suspect anything. There is a _reason _we plan long-term missions ahead of time, as you should be aware. Remind me of that reason."

"Because then you have time to formulate an excuse for our absence." recited Becca in a monotone.

"Exactly." nodded Numbuh 25. "Where is Numbuh 17? I've been saving up my ranting for a _week _and I don't think I can wait much longer."

"Main room probably." shrugged Becca. Her eyes widened. "B...but, w-why don't you go to his room? I'll f-find him for you."

One eyebrow shot up.

"What's wrong with me going to find him?" asked Numbuh 25 sternly, and Hoagie couldn't help but think of how similar that expression looked to one often used by Abby.

"N-Nothing." stuttered Becca. "It's just... if he hears you coming he might...um... make a break for it and wait until you calm down. Then you'll never get to rant to him. But if _I _find him for you he won't suspect anything, so he can't get away."

Numbuh 25 rolled her eyes. "That sounds just like Ben." she grumbled. "Alright, fine. I'll meet my brother in his room. Make it quick please. I need to get back to Moonbase."

"Sure thing." said Becca cheerily. Once Numbuh 25 had left the room, she let out a breath. "You can come out now Numbuh 2."

"Poor Numbuh 17." grunted Hoagie as he pushed himself up off the floor. "I'd hate to be him right now."

"Me too." agreed Becca. "Me too."

* * *

Sometime later, the operatives had once again gathered in the main room of the tree house, eating a pile of candy provided by Numbuh 17. The summer sky was beginning to darken, and the first evening stars began to twinkle in the night sky.

"Ross?" the operatives froze as the voice of an elderly woman floated upwards. "Chelsea? Sweethearts, are you here?"

"Be right back." hissed Ross as he bolted out of the room.

"Where's he going?" asked Hoagie "And who is that lady?"

"That's my grandma." said Chelsea. "She and Grandpa live here."

"In the tree house?" asked Wally. Chelsea rolled her eyes.

"No doofus. In the house underneath the tree house."

"No need for name calling." reprimanded Ben as Ross came back into the room. Ben turned to face him. "What's up Numbuh 15?"

"We need a meeting." said Ross firmly. "_Now._"

* * *

"We have a problem." announced Ross as soon as Sector V had been relocated to another room out of hearing range.

"Explain." said Ben.

"Grandma just told me our parents called." said Ross firmly. "_All _of our parents, not just me and Chelsea's. She said that they thought we had been gone from home long enough, and we're not allowed to sleep in the tree house tonight. Oh, and Mrs. Beetles said that Becca is staying the night with Lily. That means there'll be nobody in the tree house tonight..."

"...which means we need to figure out what to do with Sector V." nodded Ben with understanding.

"Exactly." said Ross. "We can't leave them here. They could find something they shouldn't, or investigate Becca's inventions, or even get attacked. After all, we do live in the middle of a war zone."

The operatives stood in silence, eyebrows scrunched in contemplation.

"I have an idea." said Becca timidly. "It's...well... maybe it's not the best idea ever, but I think it's our best option."

"Go ahead." nodded Ben.

"We could..." said Becca hesitantly "We could always take them home with us."

"Are you _insane?" _asked Chelsea. "You want us to take them _home _with us? That is the worst idea I've ever heard! The _instant _they see any one of our parents they'll figure out the truth, and who knows what'll happen? And what if our parents recognize themselves? How the _crud_ are we supposed to explain that?"

"It _could _work." insisted Becca. "Lily already told Numbuh 5 who most of our parents are."

"Nice going." grumbled Chelsea under her breath. Ben lightly jabbed her side with his elbow.

"Let her finish." said Ben with a nod towards Becca.

"Wally's too dumb to figure anything out on his own," continued Becca as Lily shot her a scowl. "Sorry Lily, but you know it's true. We could easily distract Kuki with Chelsea's rainbow monkeys, and we're _definitely _not spending the night with grown up Nigel. We'll just have to hope Hoagie's either dumb enough not to notice, or smart enough to not say anything."

"I guess." said Chelsea reluctantly. "That sounds...logical."

"Good." said Ben casting a sympathetic glance Chelsea's way before smoothing his features into a calm, neutral expression. "We need to make sure our parents don't run into each other. Becca and Lily, you take home Abby. Chelsea and Ross, you take Kuki and Hoagie, and I'll take Nigel and Wally. Okay?"

"We can make it even safer," said Ross. "if we give them all disguises."

"Excellent idea." nodded Ben. "Alright team. Move out."

Chelsea held back, before sighing and following her teammates out the door.

"This better work." she grumbled to Ben.

"It will." said Ben. "It _has _to."

"Since when has that guaranteed anything?" grumbled Chelsea.

"It doesn't." said Ben, his stomach beginning to twist into a knot. "What the crud have we gotten ourselves into?"

* * *

"Mooommmm." called Chelsea as she ushered a now blonde Kuki and a dark haired Hoagie inside the front door, Ross following close behind. "Can me and Ross have a sleepover with some friends we made at camp? Please?"

"Chels." sighed a female voice. "You just got home."

"Please mommy?" asked Chelsea, her tough demeanor completely gone as she walked into the next room, her eyes wide and her mouth turned down slightly. "Pwetty pwease?"

Ross chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"Well..." came the female voice. "Oh... all right, that's fine. I just finished cooking dinner. Come and sit up. And go get your sister, will you?"

"Nice one sis." grinned Ross as Chelsea re-entered the room, looking very smug.

"Thanks." said Chelsea. "NATALIE! DINNER TIME!"

"Indoor voice."

"Hi dad." said Chelsea and Ross simultaneously.

"Yaaaaaay!" came a high-pitched female voice from the top of the stairs. A brunette seven year old threw herself down the steps, her brown eyes sparkling happily as she tossed her arms around Chelsea and Ross. "You're home! And guess what? I lost another tooth!" The girl opened her mouth proudly to display the missing tooth.

As Ross and Chelsea dutifully feigned excitement, their dad looked over at the visitors carefully.

"Nice to meet you." said the man with a smile, extending a calloused hand.

"Dad," said Chelsea, breaking away from her little sister's grip. "this is... um... Henry and his sister... uh... Kelly."

"Henry?" asked Hoagie in surprise. Ross kicked the back of his leg. "I'm... Henry. Yeah. Hi."

"Nice to meet you Henry and Kelly." Kuki opened her mouth in confusion, but Chelsea quickly cut her off.

"Let's eat." said Chelsea, her hand wrapping around Kuki's wrist as she dragged her towards the kitchen. "I'm starving."

Soon the family was sitting calmly around the dinner table. Natalie, Chelsea, and Ross heaped their plates high and shoveled down their dinner, while their parents ate slowly, and Kuki and Hoagie hardly ate at all, for they had recently learned the identity of Ross and Chelsea's parents – Lee and Sonya – and it was only swift kicks courtesy of Chelsea and Ross that kept them from voicing their shock.

"So how was camp?" asked Sonya, interrupting the silence that had fallen on the table. "Did you have fun?"

"Yeah." said Chelsea and Ross simultaneously. Chelsea swallowed her mouthful of potatoes, while Ross began to weave stories of their time at camp.

"Did you get to practice with the yo-yo?" asked Lee.

"Of course." said Ross proudly. "Everyone was really impressed with my tricks."

"Would you like me to teach you some more yoyo tricks after dinner?" offered Lee eagerly. Sonya fake groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Just as long as you don't break another vase." said Sonya sternly, her eyes giving away her amusement.

"What about that awful one Auntie Fanny gave us?" teased Ross. Hoagie and Kuki twitched with shock at the name. "Can I break that?"

"Make it look like an accident." winked Sonya.

"You have an aunt named Fanny?" asked Hoagie, his mouth dry.

"Nah." shrugged Ross. "She's me and Chelsea's godmother."

The family went back to talking, and didn't notice Hoagie leaning over towards Kuki.

"She would be a terrible godmother."

* * *

"Abby feels stupid."

"Nonsense." said Lily firmly. "You look fine. I can barely recognize you."

Abby's hair had been let down from her braid, her cap resting in the pocket of her newly acquired black shorts. A pair of blue glasses was perched on her nose, and her hands were tucked into the pockets of a sky blue hoodie.

"C'mon." mumbled Lily, pushing open her front door. Abby took a deep breath before entering the home.

"Mooooommmm!" said Lily as the front door slammed shut. "I'm home! Is it okay that I brought another friend?"

"You mean besides Becca?" came a cheerful female voice. "That's fine I suppose."

"Lily!" a laughing toddler ran clumsily to the front door, where he threw his small arms around Lily's waist.

"I missed you!" said the small boy, his black hair falling into his brown eyes as he grinned toothily. "Did you have fun at camp?"

"Naoko!" cried Lily happily as she scooped the toddler into her arms. "I missed you too! Camp...? Oh! Camp! Yeah, it was fun. Me and Becca had lots of fun." Naoko turned to look at Becca. Becca smiled and waved.

"Hi Becca." said Naoko cheerfully, before glancing curiously at Abby.

"Who's that?" he whispered to Lily, one finger pointed in Abby's direction.

"It's not polite to point." came the female voice teasingly. Abby turned, and forced herself not to show the shock that coursed through her body.

The woman looked eerily similar to Kuki. Most likely, Abby reminded herself firmly, because it _was _Kuki, just older, with her hair tied back into a professional looking bun, wearing a blue apron tied over a grey business dress.

"Hello...?" said Kuki trailing off expectantly, reaching down to sling Naoko on her hip.

"Abby." said Numbuh 5 calmly. Kuki's eyebrows narrowed thoughtfully, and Abby swallowed hard.

"Abby, did you say? Abby...?"

"um...Smith." said Abby quickly. Becca gave her a thumbs up from behind Kuki's back.

"Lovely name." said Kuki, her features smoothing out. "I have a friend named Abby."

"Thank you Ms... um..."

"Beetles." said Kuki warmly. "Kuki Beetles. But please, just call me Kuki."

"We're going up to my room, okay mom?" said Lily, reaching for Abby's wrist.

"That's fine." said Kuki as she hefted Naoko into a more comfortable position on her hip. "Dad'll be home in about an hour, and then we'll have dinner, alright?"

"Sounds good." nodded Lily as she tugged Abby from the room, Becca following close behind. "Thanks mom!"

* * *

"Are the disguises really necessary?"

"Mhmm." said Ben as he directed Wally and Nigel to a small yellow house. Ben put his hand on Nigel's shoulder stopping him even as Wally kept moving.

"Look Numbuh 1," said Ben in a low tone. "Here's the thing. My parents are...well they're...I mean... they're..."

"They're what?" asked Nigel. "Evil? Weird? Boring?"

"None of those." said Ben. "They're...well, they're gonna seem _familiar _to you, okay? Can you do me a favor? I promise to explain tomorrow as long as you don't tell anyone else or let Wally realize, okay?"

"Realize what?" asked Nigel suspiciously. "Familiar how?"

"You'll see." promised Ben. "Just promise, okay?"

"Whatever." said Nigel, his pace picking up in order to catch up to Wally. "I promise."

* * *

"You okay?"

Abby, sprawled messily on the floor of Lily's room, turned her head to look up at Becca. Slowly, she pushed herself to a sitting position.

"Abby's fine." mumbled Abby. "It's just a lot to process."

Becca nodded, and silence descended on the room, only the faint sound of running water and chirping crickets disturbing the night.

"So..." said Abby, biting her lip thoughtfully. "The Numbuhless One huh? What's he like?"

"Oh," said Becca, jumping a little, her eyes darting to stare at the ground. "He's...y'know...evil."

"That's all?" asked Abby with a grin. "C'mon. You can tell Numbuh 5. It's only fair we know who we're up against for our rescue mission tomorrow, right?"

"True." said Becca reluctantly. "Alright. He's a middle-aged villain, lives in Father's mansion, particularly enjoys using his fire powers, and is a whole lot smarter then Father. He used to be a normal guy but...um...then something went wrong, and he turned evil, blah blah blah, the end."

"Did that something have to do with his wife?" asked Abby thoughtfully. "You wouldn't mention her when Numbuh 17 first told us your story."

"No." said Becca, a little too quickly. She cleared her throat. "Um... nope. Sorry. No one is um... really sure why he...um... became evil."

Abby raised an eyebrow in disbelief, but then dropped the subject.

"And you don't know his old numbuh, right?" asked Abby.

"Um..." said Becca hesitantly. "Well... officially, yeah, no one... um... no one knows."

"Officially?" said Abby sternly. Becca looked at the floor guiltily. "Look, Abby knows you don't wanna screw up the future, but our Soopreme Leader has been taken hostage, we've been putting up with your secrets for ages, and Abby thinks it's only fair you tell the truth."

"The truth?" said Becca nervously. "R-really? You, um, you want the truth? Are you sure?"

"Why wouldn't Abby be?"

"The truth is..." mumbled Becca. "Well, the truth is... oh man, oh man, Numbuh 17 is really gonna kill me this time... you see... well, the thing is... we... we kind of... well... we lied. My sector... my sector knows his numbuh. We're the only ones, but we decided not to tell anyone _ever_. Not even our Soopreme Leader."

"Why not?" asked Abby.

Becca hesitated. "Because…" she mumbled, releasing a sigh as the words tumbled out. "He's my dad. He's the only connection to my mom and – and if the KND knew I was his daughter, they'd hate me. They'd never have let me join in the first place."

"He's your dad?" said Abby, her eyes and mouth wide. "Only connection to… what happened to your mom?"

"She's dead." whispered Becca. "She died when I was six."

"Abby's sorry." mumbled Abby.

"I've also never told Numbuh 788 because… because I'm _dangerous._" admitted Becca in a small voice.

"Dangerous?" asked Abby warily. "How?"

"You know who Grandfather is right?" asked Becca. Abby nodded. "Well he possessed fire-control powers. He passed on those powers to Father and Father's brother. Father never had kids... well, biological kids that is, but Father's brother passed it down to _his _son, the Numbuhless One and… and…" Becca swallowed hard. "And he passed it on to me."

Abby stared at Becca, her mouth open, trying to absorb that information.

"B-But…but…" stuttered Abby, "You can't control fire _now _can you?"

"No." said Becca. "You only exhibit fire power if you turn evil. But… I can… how should I put this? I can _feel _it."

"_Feel _it?" said Abby bemusedly. "_What?"_

"When I'm by a fire," sighed Becca "it feels like… almost like the fire's _calling _to me. Like it's trying to speak to me in a different language, one I can't understand. But once you renounce good, then you learn the language. Fire will listen to you. People who have fire power tend to be either _really _good or _really _bad. Sometimes they're both at different points of their lifetimes, but _never _both together. If you've got fire power, you're either the hero or the bad guy. There's no in-between. You either save the world or try to destroy it."

"Are you sure?" asked Abby. "That seems a little extreme."

"Think about it." sighed Becca. "Grandfather and Father are the worst villains in the world. Numbuh 0 is a hero to the KND. And Numbuh 1… he became both."

Abby gasped. "Numbuh 1… Nigel's the Numbuhless One?"

"Well, not right now." shrugged Becca. "But yeah, once he grows up he'll go bad."

"Abby doesn't believe it." said Abby. "Not Nigel. He would never…"

"But he did." said Becca wearily.

"You're lying." said Abby angrily "You have to be."

"But I'm not." whispered Becca, tears starting to form in her eyes. "Why would I lie about something like this?"

"If you _were _telling the truth." said Abby. "And Abby's not saying you are...but _if _you were...what does that mean for you? This whole good or evil thing?"

"It means," whispered Becca hesitantly. She took a deep breath. "It means Chelsea's right. Numbuh 1 is right. You _shouldn't _trust me. It's a horrible idea to trust me. Because like it or not, the fate of the KND is gonna end up with me. And I... I don't know if I trust myself to do the right thing."

* * *

**Wow. So this is reaaaallllly long, but I just couldn't bring myself to make it shorter. **

**...And now I'm going to make it even longer by answering some questions you guys sent in! I got asked so many questions (which I love by the way) that I can't fit them all in one chapter. So I'm going to span them out over a couple of chapters, okay? So if you don't see the answer to your question here, it's either because a) it has/will be answered within the story itself or b) it will be in a future author's note. **

**So let's get on with it! **

.

**Q: **_**How did the operatives meet?**_

**A:** Ben, Chelsea, Ross, and Lily have been friends almost since birth. They all live in the same neighborhood, and when they were younger, they loved to pretend to be KND operatives, even going so far as to pre-choose their numbers and titles. At the age of 8 they entered the Arctic Training Base, where they were all assigned to Sector V. Later that same day, Becca (for unknown reasons) switched from Sector W's training group to Sector V. Lily and Becca became fast friends, and Chelsea, perhaps out of jealousy, tried to ignore Becca as much as possible, although eventually she broke down and became friends with Becca. Ross and Ben had no problem with the new addition to the team, and they've all been friends ever since :)

.

**Q: **_**Can you tell us more about the lives of other future operatives?**_

**A:** _**Ben:**_ Benjamin Pennywhistle Gilligan (age 10) was born October 26 to Hoagie and Abigail Gilligan. He has an older sister, Jamie Gilligan (12) and a younger brother, Aaron Gilligan (2). Even from a young age, it was clear that Ben had inherited his mother's leadership skills, and he was by no means as hesitant as her to exercise them. As a young boy, when not playing with Chelsea, Ross, and Lily, Ben used to follow his sister everywhere, anxiously anticipating the day he would be allowed to join the KND. After becoming a cadet, he was immediately pegged to be the next leader of Sector V, an honor he took so seriously, he had to be dragged from the training ring at the end of every day. His intelligence is second only to Becca's, but because of his intense dedication, he gets the best grades in school.

_**Lily:**_ Lily Marie Beetles (age 10) was born August 18 to Kuki and Wallabee Beetles. She has one younger brother Naoko Beetles (4). Despite being Kuki's daughter, she doesn't particularly like Rainbow Monkeys, although she doesn't have the heart to tell her mother (who is currently the Secretary for the President of the entire Rainbow Monkey Corporation) and consequently, her room is filled with Rainbow Monkeys. She prefers to play with Yipper cards, and is the undefeated Yipper Card champion of the KND.

_**Chelsea/Ross:**_ Chelsea and Ross* (both age 10) were born March 13 to Lee and Sonya. They have a younger sister Natalie (7). Chelsea is the older twin by three hours. She is the shortest member of Sector V, but despite her height she is without a doubt the toughest member of Sector V. She is fiery and impatient, and she is almost fearless. She does, however, have a girly side. She loves Rainbow Monkeys and is completely envious of Lily's constant flow of Rainbow Monkey products (courtesy of Kuki). Ross has a similar temperament to his dad. He is very laid back and calm in almost all situations. He does have a temper, but he hardly ever lashes out at anyone. Despite being almost polar opposites, Chelsea and Ross are incredibly close and very protective of each other.

*I refuse to give Chelsea and Ross a last name. It's one thing to make up names for your own characters, but it's totally different when you're making up a name for someone else's. It just doesn't sound right.

.

**Q: **_**Has Becca had other close calls with the KND finding out about her family? What would the KND do to her if they found out?**_

**A: **Becca has not ever had her story questioned (besides, of course, by her sector) because her story about running away from a guardian working for the Numbuhless One is a very common occurrence in my future world. If it were ever to get out that she was the Numbuhless One's daughter she'd be _immediately _decommissioned and then after the decommissioning, thrown into a KND prison cell, or worse, used as a negotiating chip against the Numbuhless One. Either way, she'd forget everything, and probably never see the light of day again. Hence, the secrecy.

.

**Q: **_**How do they like to spend their free time?**_

**A: **_Ben_ usually spends his free time reading, going over different battle strategies, inspecting the tree house, or occasionally playing Yipper.

_Chelsea _plays with her rainbow monkeys (never calmly, and always with lots of fights and battle cries), reads her rainbow monkey comics, practices her fighting skills, and practices first aid.

_Ross _watches/plays basketball, practices tricks with his yo-yo, practices his stealth skills, and just chills in front of the television.

_Lily _plays video games, helps Becca with inventions, plays Yipper, and every once in a while sneaks out to the park to see Bradley III

_Becca _doesn't give herself free time. She more or less lives in her workshop, and only leaves her inventions for missions or when her friends drag her out kicking and screaming.

.

**Q: **_**Does Lily secretly like Ben? Does Ben secretly like Lily? **_

**A: **I don't know. I haven't asked them. What do you think? :3

.

**Thanks so much for sticking with me guys. I know I'm not exactly the most reliable updater, but you guys've stuck with me, so I promise to stick with you, and I hope this slightly longer chapter will make up for the long wait. **

* * *

_**Codename KND (c) Mr. Warburton**_

_**Future Sector V (c) Andra **_


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